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Bush
& Abstinence Education
Sex
In The News 2005
For
those of you who don't already know, abstinence education has
proven to be less effective in preventing STDs. But still based
on his religious believes he is leading the U.S. into the dark
ages by seeking to teach only abstinence.
President
Bush's reelection insures that more of your tax dollars will flow
to abstinence education that precludes dialogs about birth control,
even as the administration awaits evidence that the approach gets
kids to refrain from sex. Over $131 million for abstinence programs
in a $388 billion spending bill, an increase of $30 million but
about $100 million less than Bush requested.
Dub-ya has
been a strong proponent of school-based sexual education that
focuses on abstinence, but does not include instruction on safe
sex. Surveys
indicate that roughly 50 percent of teens say they have sex before
they leave high school. While the nation's teenage pregnancy rate
is declining, young people 15 to 24 account for about half
the new cases of sexually transmitted diseases in the United States
each year.
Teaching
only about abstinence means students will be less able to prevent
pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The
push for abstinence is one of several Bush policies popular with
religious conservatives. Also topping the agenda: the faith-based
initiative, which aims to open more government programs to religious
groups. The Bush administration is going so far as to tell people
that condoms are less than 60% effective in preventing pregnancy
and STDs when we have know for many years that it is over 90%.
Hopefully
we Americans won't all put our heads in the sand when people try
and manipulate us into believing lies about science because it
conflicts with their religious agenda. Honestly, this country
is taking a huge step into sexual repression, and before you know
it kids will be getting taught that they will go blind or grow
hair on their palms if they masturbate... and of course that would
only apply to men, because women have no desire to masturbate.
Give me a break!
Just think
about a few statistics shown below for a moment and ask yourself
why we would NOT want to teach our children about STD prevention,
so that should they have sex they would be prepared to stay safe.
Don't we love our children in the U.S. enough to want to protect
them and understand that they are likely to have some sort of
sexual contact that would put them at risk for STDs before marriage?
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Sexually
transmitted diseases are diagnosed 12 million times a year
in the United States - including a staggering 3 million cases
among teen-agers. |
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The
U.S. spends just $1 to prevent sexually transmitted illnesses
for every $43 spent treating them. |
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Left
untreated, sexually transmitted diseases can cause infertility,
cancer, birth defects and miscarriages, even death. And Americans
suffer 10 to 50 times more sexually transmitted diseases than
people in other developed countries. |
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One
in 10 Americans cannot even name a sexually transmitted disease,
and only 23 percent know about chlamydia, the most common
sexual disease, striking an estimated 4 million Americans
a year. |
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Gonorrhea
strikes 150 times per 100,000 Americans, vs. just three times
per 100,000 people in Sweden and 18 per 100,000 in Canada. |
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Surveys
indicate one in 50 Americans is aware of having genital herpes,
yet one in five really does. |
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Two-thirds
of people with sexually transmitted diseases become infected
before age 25. |
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In
a recent U.S. study* about half of the sexually experienced
teenagers had failed to use a condom the last time they had
intercourse. |
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An
estimated 5 million new HIV infections occurred worldwide
during 2003; that is, about 14,000 infections each day. More
than 95 percent of these new infections occurred in developing
countries, and nearly 50 percent were among females.(1) |
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The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate
that 850,000 to 950,000 U.S. residents are living with HIV
infection, one-quarter of whom are unaware of their infection.(2)
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Related
Articles
Do
Abstinence Only Programs Work?
Abstinence
Pledges Have Higher STD Rates
Does
Sex On TV Increase Teens Sexual Activity?
Sex
Before Marriage- Is It Right Or Wrong?
Birth
Control Information
STD
Information
Chastity
Rings
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