Abstinence is the best policy when it comes to sex and teens.

It’s also the best policy when it comes to monkeying around with the state’s successful sex education program.

Just as Sen. Lois Snowe-Mello would like kids to say no to premarital sex, we’d like lawmakers to say no to legislation that moves the state in the wrong direction.

There are two pieces of legislation that would significantly change Maine’s approach to sex education. L.D. 1488 would make sex ed an “opt in” instead of “opt out.” Currently, parents can keep their kids out of the classes if they want. The change would create an additional hurdle for sex education by requiring parents to actively place their children into the program.

The more onerous bill, L.D. 1639, proposed by Snowe-Mello, would allow individual school boards to create abstinence-only replacements for the current sex ed curriculum. Abstinence is one of 10 components taught in family health classes now.

Snowe-Mello says there’s an “epidemic” of teen sex sweeping the state, and abstinence training would help stop it. We agree with the senator that young people today face tremendous pressure from a culture that has grown more permissive. We are all bombarded by unhealthy attitudes toward sex and violence.

But Maine’s sexual education program is effective. The state has the third-lowest teen pregnancy rate in the country, adolescent pregnancy has been steadily declining for almost 20 years, and more students report that they are not having sex. Additionally, the teenagers who are making the poor decision to have sex are being more careful.

Comprehensive sex education delays sexual activity, creates healthy attitudes toward sex and reduces teen pregnancy rates and the transmission of disease. More than 70,000 students a year receive accurate public health information that helps them make better decisions and lead healthier lives.

Maine’s approach to a delicate – and unnecessarily controversial – topic works. Both bills should be opposed.