Right wing ramping up "abstinence only" education again. Will Democrats cave again?

It was almost a year ago that our Congress under the control of the Democrats actually INCREASED funding for the teaching of abstinence only. Yes, I said they increased it.

Abstinence only education had been proven not to work, but they went ahead and increased the funding.

Abstinence-Only Campaign Ramps Up



Here is the article from Tom Paine pointing out the way our Democrats caved on this issue and raised the funding in the face of evidence that it did not work.

Democrats increase funding for abstinence only education by 30%.



Here is more about the actions of the Demcrats on this issue last year.

If they keep running the other way...



Not only that, they even went so far as to fail to fund emergency contraception on military bases. From the link above:



So many facts have come out about how harmful the program is that states are even refusing to accept funding if they have to teach it.

States Rejecting "Abstinence-Only" Funding



We have probably not been keeping an eye on Congress with the excitement of the primary race. Maybe we should on a lot of issues, especially this one.

It was shameful for a Democratic congress to fund it out of fear of the right wing. Let's hope it doesn't happen again.

You can teach abstinence as part of a comprehensive sex education program. I don't see why it always needs to be "abstinence ONLY."

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/bender2.html

Karl Rove & the Spectre of Freud’s Nephew

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country… We are governed, our minds molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized…"


Rove and his sleazy minions have clearly studied these two icons of modern marketing

fascinating piece that puts it all in perspective

mix in a little Ellul, and that's about all you need, along with a little electronic era fine tuning

It should be required reading for all Americans.

Thanks for posting the link.

Because that, in their mind, is immoral. The only tolerable thing for them is to teach them that abstinence is best and that is all. No condoms available. No day after pill. Nothing. It flies in the face of trying to prevent teen pregnancies.

The father puts a ring on the daughter's finger, if I have it right, and the daughter pledges to remain chaste. My 14 y/o daughter now has her first boyfriend. I prefer information and honesty.

It's more than just a ritual. It's essentially a full-blown prom with two differences: you go with your dad instead of a guy from your school, and the afterparty involves neither drinking nor sex.

The sex comes six months later when your daughter goes out on a date with a guy who, unbeknownst to you, specializes in one-night stands with Purity Girls.

There is something strange about it.

They take these little six-year-old girls who are still in their "boys are icky" phase, and make them swear not to have SEX until they've entered into a covenant marriage.

Six years old. Can girls even HAVE sex at six without suffering major structural damage? I've looked at imagery from these atrocities. I've looked into these girls' eyes. Basic Training is more fun. Anyone who MIGHT be able to have sex has that "I was ordered to come to this" look; the under-nine girls were obviously bribed with fancy dresses and lipstick. (Hint to parents of 90 percent of all little girls: one $7 lipstick will motivate your daughter to singlehandedly clean out your haunted warehouse, change the oil in your logging truck or castrate this year's calf crop.) I would be shocked if I were to learn, from a source that did NOT have the word "reverend" in front of his name, that going to one of these things was the idea of any girl in America.

Still, it's better than the other way they get girls to take one of these sexlessness pledges. Some of the churches in this area like to have an event where you bring your daughter to church and demand she pledge her chastity right now. I figure that with the Purity Ball, at least the daughter knows what's going on...let's see, your parents wear out two Bibles a year, all your friends and all THEIR friends go to the same church, you're enrolled in Awana and Upward, there's a banner on the church advertising this ball, and all of a sudden you've got an appointment to pick out a gown, one to get it fitted, a nail appointment, a hair & makeup appointment and a scheduled trip to the florist; most girls are smart enough to understand what's happening. Whereas the other way...tell your daughter that you want to go shopping for nail polish and take her to the church instead (a woman at Home Depot when I worked there actually set her daughter up in exactly this way).

I said it before and I'll say it now: if you morans don't want your kids having sex, you're going to have to turn off the teenage libido. There's only one way to do that, and it's brutal but effective: take every teenage boy in school, lock them in a room with the biggest plasma TV you can find, and play them every single episode of the original Star Trek series. See, if you turn all the boys into Trekkies it will solve the problem of teenage lust--Trekkies can't get laid.

So, unless these folks want the girls having sex with each other, better figure out what to do to turn the girls off as well.

Good point. :-)

Why else would they need to advertise they're "for truth?"

:hi:

No more War on Poverty (ca. 1965).

Now the whacko right wants a War on Puberty (to curb the Copulation Explosion).

Where is the Guns'N'God crowd here? If their god had all this intelligent design,
then puberty and hormones were part of it and suppression goes against their god's
will. Is the rest of American supposed to wait until every one of these self-
appointed "leaders" has been exposed for their own "youthful indiscretions," for
which they will apologize and (maybe) resign, but only once their own scandals
have been made public?

The Democratic party has no business swallowing this kind of snake oil. I'd bet that
even most Republicans don't believe it. They are just cynical enough to make good
use of it. Our people in COngress need to see though the ruse and do the opposite.

:hi:

group that comes in and talks to the kids every friday about inner city related stuff. One of the time they came they went on and on about Abstinence being the only way. I was banging my head against the wall the whole time.

:banghead:

NONE of the girls got pregnant for the rest of the year! Right?

:hi:

The real goal of all these programs/ideologies is the control of the population in general.

Induce frustration + guilt-->anger

Then they can harness that anger and use it to their benefit.

There is also a strong sadism element--shame and punish young women for their sexuality. I truly believe they get off on all that. The extreme version of this stones the young women, but here in the U.S. we used to kick them out of school, coerce them to give up their babies, watch some of them die in back-alley abortions, and condemn the rest to a life of shame.

They are baaack..abstinence only

Mentions Jocelyn Elders, and reminds us that fear of the right wing is not new.

I am still looking for any info about funding the program this year. No luck.

and it endlessly amazes me that women agree to give their power away, they are shamed into it. These laws are made for third world countries, not the USA.

At least for teenagers, anyway?

We have more important things to worry about.

Further, very few people remain abstinent all their lives, so a little information from the get go might make life easier for some.

involved in it before they are ready for it.

It was for me.

Trust me, I have seen some of the abstinence teaching, and they don't even in many cases admit that a condom will help prevent STDs.

Come on, we live in enlightened times...They want to go back to the dark ages.

contraceptives . . . ???

And an understanding of normal human sexuality until they are . . . how old?

18, 19, 20, perhaps?

Has there ever been a time in history when teenagers did not have sex? At least some of them?

this way--

Like circumcisions to prevent masturbation . . . ???

This subject just infuriates me though and I can be strident about it!

Plenty of teenagers are NOT ready and they should not feel like they are somehow off, or wrong.

when they ask the important questions, kids turn to each other. Never a good idea.

Just not doing it...of course works. But they ARE doing it, and they need to be taught safe methods.

on doing it.

But there are many who wouldn't if they didnt' feel that social pressure to do it.

They feel the social pressure from their peers and the media.

but everywhere birth control should be freely available to them --

It sickens me to watch parents who are more concerned about controlling their children's lives

than protecting them --

program. It's an "educational" program that refuses to educate. :puke:

...to find out what the correlation between abstinence-only classes and "Acts of God" (such as tornadoes and floods, etc.)

Since the GOP believe that God will smote the sinners, those areas that force abstinence-only indoctrination should be weather-free.

being brought to attention. But what is more viable and realistic is proper sex education. "abstinence only" is not going to work, roll it into sex education and you will have more luck.

The Reich Wing is never right about anything, they are only concerned about the continuation of their agenda. If I was in a political position, I would just ignore them all together.

it's simply prescribing for all people that the only legitimate form of sex is between married people, and beyond that no one needs to know anything else.

perhaps they need abstinence themselves.

and after school club programs to keep the kids busy and to make sure they have adult supervision at all times.

In at least one Republican County that I know of, they eliminated intra-mural sports in middle school to cut costs. Why is that bad? Because there are too many households with both parents working and plenty of empty houses available for impromptu parties. Find the high school with the highest level of STDs, and I'll show you a city which hasn't provided enough positive extra-curricular activities to keep the kids busy.