Wrong Question Yields Wrong Answer

Much of the modern cultural debate regarding contraception revolves around when/if contraception should be available to young people and whether emergency contraception should be available without a prescription. We'll have to wait for the FDA to rule on the 2nd matter in September.
Regarding the first matter it seems somewhat universal to assume young people will engage in sexual activity and to inhibit their freedom is "wrong" or put more nicely "misguided". Interestingly what used to be "wrong" - i.e. fornication - is now "expected" with those who now impinge on fornicators the ones who are "wrong". Given this cultural landscape its unsuprising then that in this recent piece the primary issue brought to the reader is whether condoms are effective or not.
What's missing? What is missing is any concern for the well being of young people who would use the condoms safe sex advocates want to distribute freely. Certainly there is a concern that the rate of uintended pregnancy be reduced as also the incidence of STD's. These are laudable goals but short-sighted. What about the mental, relational and spiritual health of our young people? Sexually active teens have higher depression and suicide rates. The onset of sexual activity in a relationship is the greatest indicator that the end of the relationship is coming. College students understand this and now practice anonymous sex not even bothering to gain the name of a sexual partner.
Far from anyone's mind in the debate is the fact that God, who made us and watches over us through His law, tells us that sexual activity outside of the marriage bed is out of bounds because it damages human beings. The issue with condoms is not their effectiveness but rather their effect when used outside of a marriage bed. Do you want to seriously drop the rates of unintended pregnancy and STD incidence? Discouraging fornication is the best way.
And yes, realistic labeling that helps condom users understand that usage of the product doesn't ensure perfect prevention of pregnancy or transmission of STD's (condoms are ineffective in transmission of STD's that reside on genital surfaces not covered by a condom) would be helpful. But there also ought to be on condom packages a disclaimer about the relationship and spiritual effects of their usage outside of marriage.