“It turns out that Texas teens thought 'If birth control doesn’t work, why use it?' ” That’s the logic that seems to have resulted from Texas implementing abstinence-only sex education programs in 94 percent of its schools as of 2009, according to Shawn Lawrence Otto , author of Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America. Otto wrote about Texas’ abstinence-only programs in the Huffington Post this week, noting that Texas’ teen birth rate has jumped to 50 percent higher than the national average and the repeat teen birth rate has increased as well.

Otto points to one school district’s handout of “Things to Look for In A Mate,” which includes the question “Is Jesus their first love?” under the heading “How They Relate to God.”

Of Texas governor and potential presidential candidate Rick Perry’s response to the high teen birth rate, Otto writes: “When “confronted with the dismal statistics during an October 15, 2010 televised interview with Texas Tribune reporter Evan Smith, Perry's response was to reaffirm that “abstinence works.”

“The audience laughed and Smith pointed out the state's abysmal teen pregnancy rate. ‘It works,’ insisted Perry.” When Smith asked for statistical back-up, “Perry replied that ‘I'm just going to tell you from my own personal life, abstinence works.’ ”

Maybe he’s trying to make Sarah Palin look like Oscar Wilde (the interview is worth seeing), but just insisting “it works,” is the adult equivalent of “Nuh-uuuuh,” repeated over and over until you get tired of asking, which hopefully Texans won’t.