28 - Wednesday, September 30, 1992 - North Shore News

amessage from Focus on the Ki

‘The federal
_ government
has spent
almost
$3 billion of
_our taxes
since 1970.
to promote
_ contraceptives
and
“safe sex”
_ among our
_ teenagers.

| Asntittime

we asked,

we jpWthat for |

our money?

‘These are the

facts:

<The federal Centers for Disease
‘Control estimate that there are now i
million cases of HIV infection
" nationwide. '.
- Lin 100 students coming to the
University of Texas health center now
carries the deadly virus?
¢ The rate of heterosexual HIV. -
trarismission has increased 44% since
September 1989, :
* Sexually transmitted diseases

He (STDs) infoct 3 million teenagers

annually.*
‘© 63% of all STD cases occur L
among persons less than 25 years of

: age. 5

1 million new cases of pelvic

*" inflammatory disease occur annually.

* 1.3 million new cases of
gonorrhea occur annually’; strains of
gonorthea have developed that are
resistant to penicillin. .

« Syphilis is at a 40-year high, with
134,000 new infections per year.*

" «500,000 new cases of herpes occur

annually’; it is estimated that 16.4% of
the U.S. population ages 15-74 is
infected, totaling more than 25 million
Americans — among certain groups,
the infection rate is as high as 60%."°

‘© 4 million cases of chlamydia occur
‘annually''; 10-30% of 15- t019-year-.
"olds are infected.'?

There are now 24 million cases of
- human papilloma virus (HPV), with a
higher prevalence among teens."

To date, over 20 different and
dangerous sexually transmitted
diseases are rampant among the
young. Add to that the problems
associated with promiscuous
behavior: infertility,

~ abortions and infected
“newborns. The cost of

this epidemic is
staggering, both in
human suffering and in
expense to society; yet
epidemiologists tel! us
we've only seen the
beginning. . :
Incredibly, the “safe-
sex” gurus and condoms
promoters who got us

. determining our policy regarding

adolescent sexuality. Their ideas have.

Jailed, and it is time to reticink their

bankrupt policies. a
How Iong has it been since you’ve

heard anyone tell teenagers why it is to
.. their advantage te remain virgins until

married? The facts are being withheld
from them, with tragic consequences.
‘Unless we come to terms with the
sickness that stalks a generation of
Americans, teen promiscuity will
continue, and millions of kids . . .
thinking they are protected . . . will
suffer for the rest of their lives. Many
will die of AIDS.

There is only one safe way to

"remain healthy in the midst of a sexual

revolution. It is to abstain from
intercourse until marriage, and then
wed and be faithful to an uninfected

" partner. It is a concept that was widely

endorsed in society until the 1960s.
Since then, a “better idea” has come
along . .. one that now threatens the
entire human family.

Inevitable questions are raised
whenever abstinence is proposed. It’s
time we gave some clear answers:

_ Why, apart from moral
considerations, do you think teenagers

: Should be taught to abstain from sex

until marriage?
No other approach to the epidemic
of sexually transmitted diseases will

~ work. The so-called “safe-sex” soiution

is a disaster in the making. Condoms
can fail at least 15.7 percent of the time
annually in preventing pregnancy."*
They fail 36.3 percent ofthe time -
annually in preventing pregnancy
among young, unmarried minority

- women." In a study of homosexual

men, the British Medical Journal.
reported the failure rate due to slippage
and breakage to be 26 percent.'* Given
these findings, it is obvious why we

have a word for people who rely on
condoms as a means of birth control.
We call them . . . “parents.”
Remembering that a woman can
conceive only one or two days per
month, we can only guess how high the
failure rate for condoms must be in
preventing disease, which can be
transmitted 365 days per year! If the
devices are not used properly, or if they
slip just once, viruses and bacteria are
exchanged and the disease process
begins. One mistake after 500 ;
“protected” episodes is all it takes to
contract a sexually transmitted disease.
The damage is done in a single :
moment when rational thought is
overridden by passion.
. Those who would
depend on so insecure a

method must use it properly :

“on every occasion, and
even then a high failure

rate is brought about by _
. factors beyond their. —
control. The young ©.

victim whe is told
@ . by his elders that
\ this lide latex
, device is “safe”
hay not know
* he is risking |
lifelong pain and even death for so.
brief a window of pleasure. What a .
burden to place on an immature mind —
and body!

Then we must recognize that there -
are other differences between ;
pregnancy prevention and disease
prevention. HIV is 1/25th the width of

_ sperm,” and can pass easily through
. even the smailest gapsincondoms. =.
Researchers studying surgical gloves +"

Some will. Some won't. It’s still the. ;
only answer. But let’s talk about an
“unworkable solution” of the first
order. Since 1970, the federal 2°
government has spent nearly $3 billion
to promote contraception and “safe...
sex.” This year alone, 450 million of
your tax dollars will go down that ”."~:
drain!" (Compared with less than $8: :
million for abstinence programs, which
Sen. Teddy Kennedy and company -
have sought repeatedly to eliminate

. altogether.) Isn't it time we ask what,

we’ ve gotten for our money? After: 22:
years and nearly $3 billion, some

percent of teenage girls | under. 18 still.
did not use contraception during their;

made out of latex, the same material in’ if,

condoms, found “channels of 5.”

microns that penetrated the entire 2°”

thickness of the glove.""® HIV
measures .1 microns." Given these: :
findings, what rational, informed
person would trust his or her
very life to such flimsy
armor?

This sureiy explains
why not one of 800
sexologists at a
conference a few years
ago raised a hand when
asked if they would
trust a thin rubber
sheath to protect

them during

intercourse with a

- knownHIV-infected
2 person.” Who could

blame them? They’re not crazy, after
all. And yet they’re perfectly willing to
tell our kids that “safe sex” is within
reach and that they can sleep around
with impunity. °
There is only one way to protect
ourselves from the deadly diseases that
lie in wait. It is abstinence before
marriage, then marriage and mutual

fidelity for life to an uninfected partner.

Anything less is potentially suicidal.
That position is simply NOT
realistic today. It’s an unworkable

. Solution: Kids will NOT implementit..

“the’ number ‘of kids se

‘Want proof of that fact? Since the
federal government began i its major”:
contraception program in 1970, ‘unwed.

ies have increased 87 percent .
among 15- to 19-year-oids.> Likewise,
abortions among teens rose 67 =:
percent" unwed births went up 61:
percent.”” And venereal disease has
infected a generation of young people.
Nice job, sex counselors. Good
thinking, senators and congressmen. .
Nice nap. America. —

py wwe