Persuasive Speech Against Premarital Sex

Sex. It's everywhere. I mean, you meet a girl, take her out, one thing leads to another, she leans in close and suddenly your mind is thinking "This is it, I am getting lucky tonight." I'm here today to talk about premarital sex. Premarital sex is a huge problem in society today.

According to a 2002 survey by the Guttmacher Institute, data shows that "by age 20, 75% had had premarital sex, by age 44, 95% of respondents had engaged in premarital sex" (Finer). This is a high, but not surprising number. What the study didn't show, and truly the most important factor is how many of them were aware of all the repercussions. There are many things which need to be fully considered before jumping between the sheets.

Probably the most obvious consequence is an unplanned pregnancy. The American Pregnancy Association reports that over "3,000,000 women who are sexually active use no contraception, accounting for 47% of unplanned pregnancies." It goes on to further clarify that "468,988 babies are born to teenage mothers each year" ("Statistics"). Those who are not married and have children possibly make their own lives harder by burdening themselves financially with the cost of a child. Potentially, they might also make it harder for their children, who might possibly have to grow up without both of their parents.

So you're thinking, "We use a condom, I'm safe." No, not really. "The typical use of male condoms has a failure rate of 14-15%." ("Male Condoms") This means that 14-15 people out of every 100 will become pregnant during the first year of use. We've heard it for years; the only true "safe sex" is no sex. In fact, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services allocates $50 million annually to the states to encourage abstinence before marriage. ("Federal")

Also, there are the moral implications. A major religion in the United States is Christianity. Christianity teaches that having sex before getting married is wrong. According to the New King James Bible, Book of Matthew, Chapter 26, verse 41 says "Watch that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41) People should learn to understand one another and understand that sex is a big step in relationships. If it were not a big step there would be no point to get married. After all, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? Maybe our mothers really did have it right all those years ago.

Hopefully, my talk today will get you to think about the ramifications of sex before marriage. People should hold themselves to a higher standard. Additionally, we should have enough confidence in ourselves to realize that we don't need to have sex with someone to impress them or make them "love" us. Sex should