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Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, today praised pro-choice Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) for working to eliminate funding for dangerous and deceptive "abstinence-only" programs in the FY'10 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill. Rep. Hodes and other pro-choice lawmakers including Reps. Lois Capps (D-CA), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Jane Harman (D-CA), and Diana DeGette (D-CO), circulated a sign-on letter last week urging appropriators to eliminate funding for the discredited Community-Based Abstinence Education program. CBAE is one of three separate programs that censor teachers from providing teens with accurate information about contraception.
"As a former teacher and elected state superintendent of schools, I thank Rep. Hodes for taking the lead and answering the public's call to move away from the failed Bush-backed 'abstinence-only' policies that have put our teens at risk," Keenan said. "For eight long years, President Bush and his anti-choice allies in Congress pushed hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into these programs that simply don't work. Our teens need accurate information to stay healthy and protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and disease - and under the Bush-era 'abstinence-only' policy, they just didn't get it."
"Most parents in America want to provide teens with the truth about contraception and other ways to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and avoid unintended pregnancy," Keenan said. "The parents I talk to believe that values are taught at home and the facts are taught at school and 'abstinence-only' policies do not reflect this principle. Thankfully, pro-choice Americans are beginning to see a real difference in Congress' approach to reproductive-health issues, and we will continue to work with them to advance commonsense policy solutions to prevent unintended pregnancy and therefore reduce the need for abortion."
View a copy of the Hodes letter here
Comments
And exactly were is the article here?
This "article" seems to violate the premise of having topic specific Special Interest Examiners/Columnists.
This particular item appears to have simply cut and pasted a NARAL press release. This is not reporting. This is not commentary.
This is an abuse and flagrant effort to commandeer the Examiner to present propaganda.
While Examiner Ron Moore has a right to his opinions, I expect to hear his actual opinions, not just cut and paste plagarism.
So these leaders want to get rid of the only proven 100 percent way of avoiding pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. Brilliant!
It would be fine if abstinence only programs produced the desired result. The evidence is overwhelming tht it does not. And it is reported that some written materials funded by the program have serious errors including discouraging use of condoms which is increasing STDs. This may be for our teens. But these teens will be establishing adult relationships and marriages within a few years. When do we provide the accurate information they need?
The Underground Guide to Teenage Sexuality
These issues continue to impact US society due to politics trumping science, and our culture of selling sex, but avoiding talking about sex.
I used a great resouce to overcome some of my own inhibitions about talking and educating my own kids about sex called, The Underground Guide to Teenage Sexuality. I think it's available in Spanish also. But my teens and I now have a very open relationship to talk about these issues, and I sleep much better at night.
Abstinence Only programs focus on the only 1005 effective way to prevent pregnancy and STDs. In addition, these programs teach our teens how to have high self-esteem and encourage healthy relationships. What upsets me is that those who oppose Abstinence Education is failing to look at the bigger picture.... If we start by educating our children about abstinence education, there would be no need to teach them about contraceptives because abstinence would be the standard in their lives. Comprehensive education and information about contraceptives have been around for a life time, has the statistics change? Most youth know where to purchase condoms and even have access to all types of birth control, but has this decreased our pregnancy rates, suicide from emotional distress of unhealthy relationships, and STDs. I can continue to go on but is this not enough to wake up and really evaluate Abstinence Only programs
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