Abstinence-Only Fails in Mississippi

From the e-newsletter of Positively Aware -

In the July 22 Kaiser Family Foundation HIV/AIDS Report, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reported findings from the CDC’s latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

“Mississippi is among the top states in the nation in the spread of HIV and AIDS among pre-teens to young adults, as well as pregnancies in the same age groups," according to the CDC. The report found that the rate of young adults age 20 to 24 living with HIV/AIDS was 33.9 cases per 100,000 people, the eighth highest rate in the nation for this age group.

Mary Currier, the state epidemiologist, said the findings indicate that the state's abstinence-only approach to sex education is ineffective. According to the Clarion-Ledger, "Earlier this year, an attempt to establish a pilot sex-education program in a limited number of schools passed the Mississippi House but died in the Senate without a vote. The bill would have required the program to report its successes or failures in a 2012 report to the Legislature." State Rep. Alyce Clarke (D), who authored the bill, said she will try again to get the bill passed.

Good News About Federal Funding & Something Fun!

Last Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $730.5 billion bill (HR 3293) to fund health, education, and labor programs in fiscal 2010. Two exciting components of the bill are worth noting.

The first may not appear to have much to do with comprehensive sexuality education, but it represents a clear change in prevention philosophy to one based in science and cost-effectiveness. HR 3293 allows for the use federal funds for needle exchange programs with only a few restrictions.

We have known for more than a decade that providing clean needles and syringes for injection drug users (IDUs) significantly reduces the spread of HIV and viral Hepatitis B and C.

Arguments against needle exchange programs typically fall into two groups - the group that claims the programs encourage drug use, and the group that says needle exchange removes the fear of infection as a punishment for using the drugs in the first place.

Sound familiar? A little like, "Giving people condoms encourages them to have sex," and "Fear of infection or unplanned pregnancy is the best sort of prevention, so reducing the risks of these punishments will, in turn, lead to higher rates of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections." Or, the crazy claim that "giving young people the Gardasil vaccine to reduce the risks of HPV, genital warts, and cancer will lead to promiscuity." Or, the ever-popular, "Teaching kids about safer sex encourages them to have sex. "

Finally, our federal government is basing a funding decision on good science rather than on fear and punishment. With access to needle exchange, IDUs are less likely to share needles. Needle exchange does not increase injection drug use. It is cost-effective and proven.

The second part of HR 3293 that we should celebrate is that it drops funding for dangerous, unproven abstinence-only until marriage sex education, and it adds $114 million for a new teenage pregnancy prevention initiative. Again, I say, "FINALLY." This comes on the heels of reports that teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections are on the increase, even though the past dozen years have focused federal dollars exclusively on abstinence-only.

In response to the "fear and punishment" model used in abstinence-only, I encourage you to take a look at a recent article from The Onion. If you enjoy satire, follow this link:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/study_abstinence_only_lunch?utm_source=a-section

Britain's new message for teens

Check out this news article regarding Britain's efforts to curb teen pregnancy rates over seas. The new booklet entitled "Pleasure" was created to try and change the tone of sex education by encouraging healthy sexual relations and masterbation. More information is available on our facebook page, click the link to the right...

More on the "Purity Myth" with Jessica Valenti