Tuesday Video: Watch Rick Perry have no idea what he is talking about
Q: Governor, why does Texas continue with abstinence education programs when they don't seem to be working? In fact, I think we have the third highest teen pregnancy rate in the country.
A: Abstinence works.
Q: But we have the third highest teen pregnancy rate among all states in the country. The questioner's point is, it doesn't seem to be working.
A: It, it, it works, uhh, maybe it's the way it's being taught or the way that it's being applied out there, but the fact of the matter is, it is the best form of uh, to teach our children.
Q: Can you give me a statistic suggesting it works?
A: I'm just gonna tell ya, I'ma tell ya from my own personal life, abstinence works. And the point is, if, if, if we're not teaching it, and if we're not impressing it upon them, then no, but if, if the point is, you know, we're gonna go stand up here and say listen, y'all go have sex, and go have the whatever is going on, and we'll worry with that, and here are the, here's the ways to have safe sex, I'm sorry, call me old-fashioned if you want, but that is not what I'm gonna stand up in front of the people of the state of Texas and say that's the way we need go and forget about abstinence.
Q: Respect, Governer, that's not what the questioner's asking. The questioner is simply saying, we're spending money on abstinence education, we have the third highest teen pregnancy rate in the country -- is there a problem, disconnect between one and the other?
A: [Pause.] I don't know, look, it, it, it gets in line with, uh, it gets in line with other programs that we have that we spend money on, and do they work 100 percent, or do they work 5 percent, and that's a bigger and a better issue than, ‘Well, we have the third highest teenage pregnancy rate.' Uh, are we, on the amount of money that we're spending, are we getting a return on that that is appropriate?
Q: And your belief is that we are?
A: I think that those are some dollars that are well spent. For instance, we're spendin' dollars to check kids for steroids, right? And what did we find? Seven? 15? And we spent X numbers of, of a -- look, I'm --.
Q: And you think that's a poor expenditure?
RP: I'm sayin' that if, no I'm trying to make a comparable here. If that's a good expenditure, then I would suggest to you the dollars we're spending on abstinence education is a good expenditure.
