Is the Catholic Church's sexual abstinence stance harmful? The country of Philippines as an example.

[AgnosticBoy]

An interesting CNN article:

The Catholic Church believes intercourse should only happen between married couples and teaches abstinence for all others. The church also disapproves of artificial contraception but permits natural methods of avoiding pregnancy within marriage. Abortion is illegal in all circumstances in the Philippines, including after rape or incest.

In the Philippines, child and teen pregnancies are amongst the highest in Asia. While there has been a slight decline in pregnancies among 15 – 19-year-olds between 2019 and 2023, alarm bells are now ringing over a stark rise in pregnancies among very young girls – those aged 14 and younger – up 38% from 2,411 in 2019 to 3,343 in 2023.

Government bodies have long declared teen pregnancies a “national social emergency,” and in 2022 lawmakers filed the earliest draft of an Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Bill aimed at tackling the problem.

The bill aims to standardize comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in schools and improve access to sexual health services. Currently, teens younger than 18 need parental consent to access contraceptives, with some exceptions.

“Whether we like it or not, according to the data, there are adolescents who are sexually active now,” Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the principal author of the bill, said in a statement earlier this year. She added that the bill “is needed to empower adolescents to protect themselves.”

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/31/asia...nes-sex-education-catholic-as-equals-intl-cmd

Mothers at 14. The fierce debate over sex education in a deeply Catholic nation ​

by Sashikala VP, Hanako Montgomery, Yasmin Coles​

For Discussion:
What's your view on this issue? Is the Catholic viewpoint harmful? Is it practical or are adolescents just too sexually active for this to work?