ACLU & Planned Parenthood Declare War on Abstinence Education in Illinois
10/8/2005 6:45:00 AM
By David E. Smith, Senior Policy Analyst
 | "Safe Sex", even when applied perfectly, still involves a real possibility of pregnancy and/or the spread of a number of different STDs.
Abstinence, when adhered to, carries NO risk of pregnancy or STDs. |  |  | What are your children being taught in school? |
The ACLU of Illinois recently mailed a letter to more than 1,300 school superintendents across Illinois complaining that some schools are providing their students with "dangerous, inaccurate sex education information."
What "inaccurate sex education information," you may ask? Well according to the ACLU of Illinois, schools that teach abstinence-only-until-marriage "deny students crucial information they need to prevent pregnancy and protect them from sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs)."
Yes, you read that right. The ACLU of Illinois is of the opinion that by promoting no sex until marriage, somehow, and in some bizarre way, schools increase student health risks. Of course this makes absolutely no sense. Abstinence, when adhered to, will NEVER result in pregnancy and will NEVER spread STDs.
The ACLU and Planned Parenthood, which also happens to be the nation's biggest abortion provider, would rather use your tax dollars and public school resources to promote and encourage young people to "experiment" with all types of risky sexual behavior, including oral sex and homosexuality.
That's liberal ideology for you. Indoctrinate young impressionable students with ideas of risky and dangerous behaviors -- in the name of health, of course; but criticize the abstention of that risky and dangerous sexual behavior -- and call it "misleading."
These liberals ignore the fact that abstinence education has, in recent years, seemed very effective in reducing the rate of teenage pregnancy.
In a recent email, the ACLU of Illinois laments the very real and "sad fact that each year, more than 9.1 million 15-24 years olds are infected with an STD and more than 800,000 teenagers become pregnant."
Here is a news flash: STDs and teenage pregnancies are NOT a result of abstinence. Young people who contract STDs or become pregnant are obviously practicing something other than abstinence-only-until-marriage. Teaching young, immature children that "safe sex" can be realized through certain techniques or by using certain products is in and of itself misleading and irresponsible.
Liberal groups would like you to think that "safe sex" is actually "safe"--but consider the following:
"Birth Control" Failures
Planned Parenthood's own Alan Guttmacher Institute recently reported that 53 percent of all unintended pregnancies occur to women using some form of "protection."
The same report revealed that even birth control pills and condom have an 8 percent and 15 percent rate of failure, respectively.
Approximately 15 percent of women who depend on condoms for contraception will become pregnant within the first year of use.
"STD" Failures
In 1993 the University of Texas analyzed the results of 11 different studies that had tracked the effectiveness of condoms to prevent transmission of the AIDS virus. The average condom failure rate in the 11 studies for preventing transmission of the AIDS virus was 31%.
Condoms and birth control pills will not stop STDs such as human papillomavirus(HPV), chlamydia, herpes, and syphilis.
The most common viral STD is HPV, and this incurable disease infects 5.5 million people every year. The National Institutes of Health reported that HPV causes 93% of all cervical cancers.
The ACLU of Illinois wants school superintendents across Illinois to ensure that students are provided with "medically accurate, age-appropriate, unbiased information." If that is the case, then the ACLU should be demanding that students be told the TRUTH about non-monogamous sexual activity.
But the ACLU and Planned Parenthood are not interested in the TRUTH. If they have their way, your children will be taught and encouraged to become familiar and experiment with condoms, oral sex and even homosexuality.
In fact, Planned Parenthood of Illinois was in Springfield earlier this year promoting two programs, Be Proud! Be Responsible and Focus on Kids, which encourages teens to imagine ways to "eroticize condom use with [their] partner" (page 78-79) and assign teens to create a list of ways to be close to a person without having intercourse, including, "body massage, bathing together, masturbation, sensuous feeding, fantasizing, watching erotic movies, reading erotic books and magazines (page 137)."
(Read more about Planned Parenthood's support of "comprehensive" sex education.)
The failures of "safe sex" are clear -- unwanted pregnancies, abortion, disease, not to mention the devastating emotional consequences for our youth. Abstinence until marriage is the only truthful safe-sex message taxpayers of Illinois should be promoting in our schools. There are no teenage pregnancy epidemics or STD outbreaks when abstinence is practiced.
So why not promote it?
Read More:
"Youth at Risk: SIECUS [Sexuality Information and Education Coucil of the U.S.] Attacks Abstinence" (Abstinence Clearinghouse)
Focus on Social Issues
Family Research Council
The Medical Institute
Concerned Women for America
Project Reality (Illinois-based group that promotes abstinence education throughout the United States)
"The ACLU v. America"
 Despite an overwhelming public recognition of the problem of left-wing judicial activism, certain judges seem to be in a competition to become the latest poster child for judicial wackiness. The latest entrant is Judge Lawrence Karlton of the Eastern District of California, who ruled that California's pledge of allegiance requirement in public schools is unconstitutional, even though student participation is voluntary.
Much of the judicial activism we are being subjected to is being encouraged by the ACLU, an organization dedicated to censoring any religious expression in the public life of our people.
Alan Sears and Craig Osten of the Alliance Defense Fund have come out with a new book, "The ACLU v. America: Exposing the Agenda to Redefine Moral Values."
We will send you a free copy of this great new book for a commitment to provide monthly support to IFI in our battle for family values in Illinois! Just sign up to make a commitment to a monthly, tax-deductible DONATION by credit card or debit card and we will send you a copy of "The ACLU v. America" as quickly as we can!
Call IFI at 630-790-8370 to arrange a convenient giving plan.
[Note: if you would like to obtain the book "ACLU vs. America" but cannot sign up for monthly giving at this time, please send a suggested donation of $20 postpaid to: Illinois Family Institute, 799 Roosevelt Rd., Suite 3-208, GLen Ellyn, IL 60137, and we will zip a copy off to you.
If you have questions, e-mail us at: info@illinoisfamily.org, or call IFI at 630-790-8370.
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