Articles about Sex Ed
September 16th, 2008 • Contributed by Dino Corvino
[Editors Note: From time to time we receive email updates from organiztions. This one comes to us from the Guttmacher Institute. We thought it was significant in scope, and wanted to pass it along in its entirety.]
Special Journal Issue Examines Broad Range of Problems
Associated with Abstinence-Only Education
Most abstinence-only programs of the type that have received $1.5 billion in federal funding do not help teens delay initiation of sex, and there is no scientific evidence to warrant their widespread use, according to a major new review of sexuality education program evaluations by Douglas B. Kirby. In contrast, many comprehensive sex education programs, which emphasize both abstinence and the use of protection for those who do have sex, were found to have a positive impact and should be replicated more widely. The study concludes that a comprehensive approach to sex education is effective and does not send a confusing message to young people.
The new review is part of a series of articles that identify major flaws in abstinence-only education, including problems with accuracy, effectiveness and ethics, all publish
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No Comments • Posted in: Sex Ed, Abstinence
August 28th, 2008 • Contributed by Dino Corvino
As you know, President Bush recently signed into law H.R. 5501, the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (PL 110-293), which reauthorized the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) at $48 billion over five years. In reauthorizing this legislation, Congress voted to eliminate the federal law that banned non-U.S.citizens living with HIV and AIDS from entering the United States, whether as visitors or immigrants. This is an important first step in restoring the human rights and dignity of people living with HIV and AIDS that were compromised by the ban.However, HIV still appears on the list of “communicable diseases of public health significance” that automatically prohibits entry into the United States. The Administration has the power to remove HIV from this list, which would allow for the full elimination of restrictions on travel and immigration for people living with HIV and AIDS who wish to enter the U.S.
Why Take Action?
For the last 20 years, U.S. law has prohibited HIV-positive non-citizens from entering the United States, violating their human rights and perpetuating stigma and discrimination. The law, driven by fear and stigma, was written at a time when many people had little understanding of how HIV is transmitted and when homosexuality was still grounds for inadmissibility to the U.S. (Gay Men’s Health Crisis). Under the travel ban, all HIV-positive travelers seeking to enter the U.S. must undergo an onerous waiver process that can dissuade people - including activists seeking to inform U.S. policy - from even trying.
Contact Congress TODAY!
We urge you to contact your Representative to endorse a Dear Colleague letter urging the Administration to completely eliminate the discriminatory travel ban. Click here to take action!
Thank you for contacting Congress and for spreading the word! For more information about U.S. restrictions on HIV-related travel and immigration, click here.
In solidarity,
Kimberly Whipkey
Advocacy and Outreach Associate
Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)
kwhipkey@genderhealth.org
301-270-1182
No Comments • Posted in: Sex Ed, Policy, Action
July 30th, 2008 • Contributed by Dino Corvino
Millions of Dollars to Failed Programs and Crisis Pregnancy Centers
New York, NY - Today, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) released a special report on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in Kentucky. The report, which compiles data on the major federal funding sources of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs as well as vital health statistics and outcomes in the state, paints a picture of a state that uses some of the worst, fear-based abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula and lags behind national averages on many important adolescent indicators related to teen pregnancy and STDs.
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No Comments • Posted in: Sex Ed, Policy, Abstinence, Action, Birth Control
July 16th, 2008 • Contributed by Frances Irwin
Recently, The Statesman Editorial Board penned an opinionon Texas’ funding of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. This well written and reasoned editorial also sparked an interesting debate among online readers about how to approach the topic of comprehensive sexuality education in schools.
No Comments • Posted in: Sex Ed
May 1st, 2008 • Contributed by Lon Newman
Are we talking about ‘the facts of life’ anymore, or have we renounced the realities of biology and science in favor of protecting our beliefs?
May 7th is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Day and a good time to study what’s working and what’s hindering out national progress. It would also be a good time for parents of teens to consider their own vital role in sex education.
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No Comments • Posted in: Abortion, Sex Ed, Policy, Emergency Contraception, Birth Control
April 22nd, 2008 • Contributed by Dino Corvino
Silencing Sex Ed: The Harm of at Home and Abroad
Legal Momentum, the nation’s oldest legal advocacy organization dedicated to advancing the rights of women, and our colleagues at Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) and Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), present a panel discussion about the harms of abstinence-only programs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on April 23, from 4:30-6:00 pm in TITU in Memorial Union and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on April 24, from 5:30-7:30 pm in the Founders Room. The program will expose how the federal government uses abstinence-only funding to fuel programs full of misinformation, sexist stereotypes and extreme right-wing ideology that aim to roll back sexual and reproductive rights. We will highlight the attack on women’s rights and sexuality both in the US and as exported via conditions on US funding, with particular attention given to the human rights implications of abstinence-only policies.
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No Comments • Posted in: Sex Ed, Policy, Abstinence
March 25th, 2008 • Contributed by Lon Newman
Can we get a break (make that a ‘Spring Break’.) from uncontrolled irresponsible immature behavior that increases the risks of unwanted pregnancies and abortions? In a media-salacious example of the national debate, Pro-Life Wisconsin’s (PLW) Spring Break campus advertising campaign on Emergency Contraception (EC-Plan B) seems as Bacchanalian in its misinformation as the sexual misbehaviors it opposes. The campaign arguably could increase unwanted pregnancies and abortions.Pro-Life Wisconsin’s campus newspaper ads state: “Be good to yourself over spring break. Make smart choices the night before … that way you won’t have any emergencies to deal with the morning after!” Good points . . . everyone agrees that good responsible sexual choices are safer, healthier, more respectful, and less likely to result in life-changing negative consequences — just plain smarter.
. . . but the PLW ad goes on to state that; “emergency contraception is a powerful, high dose of steroids that tricks a woman’s body into thinking it is pregnant” and can cause “chemical abortions and deadly blood clots.” PLW promiscuously crammed as many misleading and unsupported claims into one short statement as it possibly could, but the main and most clearly refutable points are often heard and too often echoed across the country: ‘chemical abortions’ and ‘blood clots.’
The latest World Health Organization information is explicit that EC works by preventing ovulation and fertilization. There is no evidence that EC prevents implantation and there is substantial evidence that Plan B’s rate of not preventing implantation of a fertilized egg fully explains the pregnancies that occur after the pills have been taken. In other words, the primary argument that opponents of EC make (we should not risk the destruction of a single fertilized egg) is scientifically, theoretically, and statistically head-of-a-pin microscopic.
Weighed against the larger risks of an unwanted, untimely, or risky pregnancy or perhaps an abortion at a later stage of a real pregnancy, the microscopic objection should vanish completely. And, since unlike many forms of hormonal birth control, Plan B does not contain estrogen, PLW’s warning about ‘blood clots’ seems to be based on their own beliefs and very little else. Again, weighing the risks of a real pregnancy against the theoretical . . . this argument should also disappear completely.
What will not disappear and what is impossible to ignore in this debate about possibilities, is the question of why an organization opposed to abortions would discourage women at risk of unwanted pregnancy from acting to prevent those pregnancies? Why is an organization repulsed at the idea of risking a single fertilized egg acting in a way that puts women (including those who will subsequently abort an unwanted pregnancy) at a greater risk of pregnancy?
To a rational person seeking to reduce abortions, an unproven possibility of the presence of a fertilized egg and a theoretical possibility of preventing a potential implantation on the uterine wall is simply not morally or ethically equivalent to an unwanted pregnancy. The imbalance is dramatically and clearly shown when the woman at risk is likely to have an abortion if she becomes pregnant.
Spring break is a good time for anti-abortion advocates and supporters of accurate safer-sex education alike to call for sexual responsibility and restraint. Perhaps we can agree to exercise responsibility and restraint in our advertising too. Opponents of abortion, like Pro-Life Wisconsin, could demonstrate that they will not risk increasing the number of abortions to quench an insatiable desire for public attention.
No Comments • Posted in: Sex Ed, Emergency Contraception
November 8th, 2007 • Contributed by Below The Waist
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy has long worked to help teens, parents, educators, advocates and others to advance models for preventing teen pregnancy within their communities. In this fact sheet they explain what makes Sex Ed programs most effective.
Sex Ed programs should be effective. Download PDF
No Comments • Posted in: Sex Ed
