Unwanted Pregnancy Rates
So, I'm reading the Washington Post, and I happen upon this article. According to a new study, "Poor women in America are increasingly likely to have unwanted pregnancies, whereas relatively affluent women are succeeding more and more in getting pregnant only when they want to, according to a study analyzing federal statistics."
How wonderful. Yet another result of the Bush abstinence-only sex ed policy. And then, I read this:
"Leslee Unruh, president and founder of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, a South Dakota-based nonprofit that seeks to educate about abstinence programs, said the growing number of unintended pregnancies among poorer women shows that traditional sex education programs are failing.
"'Programs for poor women are often so condescending, even degrading,' she said. "They teach how to put on a condom rather than how to take control of their lives.'"
What the hell? You know what's really, really degrading to poor women? Thinking that the best way to help them "take control of their lives" is to focus on not having sex. Not on how to make the decision to have sex, and how to be sexually active in a responsible manner, if they should so choose. How is denying anyone information about anything- including how to put on a condom- teaching them to take control of their lives? Am I living in bizarro world here?
How appropriate that the abstinence Clearinghouse is located in South Dakota, the only state in the country where a woman can't get an abortion unless her life is in danger.
Photography by Al. Taken in April, 2006.
How wonderful. Yet another result of the Bush abstinence-only sex ed policy. And then, I read this:
"Leslee Unruh, president and founder of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, a South Dakota-based nonprofit that seeks to educate about abstinence programs, said the growing number of unintended pregnancies among poorer women shows that traditional sex education programs are failing.
"'Programs for poor women are often so condescending, even degrading,' she said. "They teach how to put on a condom rather than how to take control of their lives.'"
What the hell? You know what's really, really degrading to poor women? Thinking that the best way to help them "take control of their lives" is to focus on not having sex. Not on how to make the decision to have sex, and how to be sexually active in a responsible manner, if they should so choose. How is denying anyone information about anything- including how to put on a condom- teaching them to take control of their lives? Am I living in bizarro world here?
How appropriate that the abstinence Clearinghouse is located in South Dakota, the only state in the country where a woman can't get an abortion unless her life is in danger.
Photography by Al. Taken in April, 2006.
3 Comments:
Great Gritty shoot.
Is this a hall way?
Your brave
Anne
This was taken in my former appartment building. It was in the middle of the day, so not a lot of people were around.
In order to take control of one's own life, wouldn't one need all the options?
For example ... Abstinence. Contraceptives of various types. Adoption. Abortion. (Masturbation? OMG -- ppl can get off without penetration?? ROFLSOX.)
A full, complete education would cover all of these things, plus more support in life planning and making a decision for oneself.
I love how our most recent ad campaigns on both abstinence AND drugs tend to use authority and guilt pressure, referencing peer pressure as the only alternative.
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