Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCain's choice as a running mate, recently dealt with news that many parents dread: an unmarried, teenage child with a pregnancy.

Convention: RNC Coverage

Days after Palin was put on the ticket, it was revealed that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol is five months along.

Some commentators said that Bristol's decision to keep the baby and stated plans to marry the father back up Palin's social-conservative reputation. Others noted that it may put dents in Palin's claim that abstinence-only sex education is the only appropriate method for schools to use.

What Is Abstinence-Only?

Abstinence-only programs, which are sometimes mandated by federal or state law to receive funds, teach that the expected standard of human sexual activity is "a monogamous relationship within the context of marriage" and that sex outside of marriage is likely to be "psychologically and physically harmful," according to RethinkingSchools.org.

The programs also only teach about contraception in terms of failure rates.

Abstinence-only sex education stimulated by over $1 billion in federal funding in the last decade, according to Wikipedia.org.

Candidates' Positions

Neither Barack Obama nor McCain's campaign Web sites list a position on sex education. But McCain gave a statement to CBN.com that said he supports abstinence-only education.

"Sen. McCain believes the correct policy for educating young children on this subject is to promote abstinence as the only safe and responsible alternative. To do otherwise is to send a mixed signal to children that, on the one hand they should not be sexually active, but on the other here is the way to go about it," it said. "As any parent knows, ambiguity and equivocation leads to problems when it comes to teaching children right from wrong."

Obama has been quoted as supporting broader education programs.

"What I have consistently talked about is to take a comprehensive approach where we focus on abstinence," he said at Messiah College earlier this year, according to LifeNews.com. "I do believe that contraception has to be part of that education process."

Medical Opinions

Researchers and some large medical groups such as the American Medical Assocation adn the American Academy of Pediatrics oppose mandated abstinence-only programs.

They say that since studies show that nearly half of teens are sexually active by the time they are 18, young people need comprehensive, accurate information about pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

And some studies have shown that abstinence-only programs -- whether or not they are more moral -- are not more effective.

The Mathematic Policy Institute found that students who participated in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex a few years later as those who did not.

The study found that teens who had been in that sort of program had similar rates of intercourse, numbers of partners and started having sex at the same age.

"Even though there is great enthusiasm in some circles for abstinence-only interventions, the evidence does not support abstinence-only interventions as the best way to keep young people from unintended pregnancy," said the AAP's Dr. Jonathan Klein, chairman of the academy committee that wrote recommendations about sex-ed, in a story from The Associated Press.