The federal government has made recently pushed huge large amounts of money to states in order to help them fund comprehensive sex education programs.  Unlike the programs of the past decade, these will not focus solely on abstinence only as the only means of protection, but be certain that teens are informed about contraceptives to prevent pregnancies and condom usage to stop the spread of sexually transmitted infections.

So, of course, the conservatives are all kinds of riled up.

From the New American:

Abstinence is the oldest and most effective method of controlling premarital sex, children born out of wedlock, the spread of venereal disease, and many other social problems. The federal government has intruded itself into the education of our children for decades now, without much good effect, though in recent years many conservative-minded Americans have supported abstinence being a part of federally funded sex education. But a federal government that (unconstitutionally) funds public education can not only attach strings to the funding but change the strings. And now, the for first time in more than a decade, the federal government will be paying for sex education programs that are not rooted in abstinence.

…

It is difficult to see exactly how government, not to mention the federal government, has any proper role in inculcating moral values and social norms to children. The usual bootstrap argument runs something like this: “States pay young mothers who have children out of wedlock. The federal government supports those state programs. Therefore, the federal government has a legitimate interest in reducing its costs by teaching young ladies how not to have babies.”

…

The whole, smoky intrusion of the federal government into “life choices” of young adults cannot be neatly ended at a brightly drawn line. The Judeo-Christian religious tradition treats marriage as the proper place for sexual relations and for raising children. Adherence to this value system also prevents the promiscuity that has heralded the explosion of sexually transmitted diseases and the descent of many young women into the nether regions of the “adult film” industry and prostitution. Now, presumably, government educational bureaucracies are going to teach secular principles of healthy living rather than religious principles of moral behavior — all on the taxpayer’s dime.

Of course, it makes sense that anti-choice factions want to eliminate contraceptives and sex ed, once you realize that they believe these tools cause abortions, not prevent them.

Via Lifesite:

If the pro-life movement is to gain any headway, pro-life leaders must confront the root of the attack against the culture of life – the corruption of innocence through sex education and contraception, says Mercedes Arzu Wilson, founder and president of Family of the Americas and a pioneer in the natural family planning movement.

“We have been ignoring the root of the problem all these years,” says Wilson.  “The diabolical forces don’t care how much we fight abortion, as long as you don’t touch the source that brings women to abort.”

According to Wilson, the source is the “corruption of innocence that eventually leads to the devaluation of human life, which is manifested through abortion and other sinful deeds.”

The “graphic sexuality ‘education’” taught by Planned Parenthood and its collaborators “is actually indoctrination,” she says.  “We’re promoting all kinds of perversions to little children. … If parents really saw what is being taught to their children, they would be horrified.”

These programs encourage children to experiment sexually and purport to teach them methods of “safe sex,” she explained.  By handing out or encouraging the use of condoms and the pill, she said the schools encourage a mentality that expects sex without procreation.  When the contraceptives fail, abortion is used as the final solution.

“As long as pornographic sex information continues being taught in public and even Catholic schools, abortion will continue,” she said.

Yet if you talk to the school faculty who are actually involved in the planning and implementing of these programs, you’ll see a very reasonable argument for adding contraception as a plank of a comprehensive sex-ed program.

From the Appleton Post Crescent:

Becky Walker, director of curriculum for the Appleton Area School District, said an advisory committee comprised of more than 20 community members in the district, re-affirmed the abstinence-preferred policy at its last meeting two years ago, but concurred that information about contraception should be a part of the curriculum.

“We very clearly promote abstinence as the most certain way to ensure that you’re not going to get diseases, you’re not going to get pregnant,” Walker said. “But we understand that kids do need to learn about other things as well and so that’s why we have chosen to teach them about the other contraceptives.”

Kimberly High School nurse Kathy Verstegen believes excluding contraception from the human growth and development curriculum short-changes students.

“If we taught abstinence only, it’s not fair to our kids,” said Verstegen, adding that the Kimberly Area School District has adopted an abstinence-preferred policy. “There are going to be kids that are going to be sexually active and it’s our responsibility to protect them too.” 

Sure does sound like their innocence is being corrupted all right.

Mini Roundup: Be careful about offending Catholics when you are in the Philippines.  One tour guide and performance artist is booked for “offending religious feelings” for disturbing mass in an attempt to tell clergy to stop “meddling” in politics over the country’s reproductive health and contraceptives laws.

October 1, 2010

• Abortion, ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Feature in Lame-Duck Bill – Lifesite
• Sex education program to be expanded – San Antonio Express
• Just whose problem is teen pregnancy? – Nisqually Valley News
• Pro-Lifers Will Fail Unless We Confront the ‘Corruption of Innocence’, Says Leader – Lifesite
• Abstinence Only programs take back seat – WZZM
• Antibodies show promise for HIV vaccine – CBC.ca
• Abortion rights chief: Don’t trust Conn.’s McMahon – Waterbury Republican American
• Program offers cancer screenings for all – Times-Journal
• World’s first trans MP to speak in Vancouver – Xtra.ca
• Philippines: Filipino bishops deny Aquino excommunication, but promise battle … – Spero News