News Flash: Adults have sex

When I was growing up back in the dark ages, we had sex education in school. I don't recall that it was such a big deal. Then we had it in high school. It was called biology. There were no abstinence programs and I don't believe I ever encountered a single individual that thought that they could wake up one morning and just be pregnant without having had sex. That was back in the '60's and '70's. I was under the impression that children are much more worldly and knowledgeble now than back then.

So, why the abstinence programs at all? Other than an attempt to impose Christian belief systems in public schools, that is. Why is the Department of Health and Social Services staffed with utter and complete ignoramuses?

Via TPM Muckraker, we find that HHS is catching hell from GAO for providing inaccurate information on sex to students, such as:

"The GAO cites one program which told kids that HIV can pass through latex condoms, because latex is porous. (That's false.)"

Moreover, the HHS doesn't even know how to determine if data is "scientifically accurate".

Furthermore, back on October 31, we found that HHS has revised its guidelines and is providing funds to states to encourage adults in their 20's to abstain from sex, using taxpayer money:

"The guidelines let states use federal grants to "identify groups" of people between the ages of 12 to 29 who "are most likely to bear children out of wedlock." After identifying the groups, targeted programs can then "support decisions to delay sexual activity until marriage."

USAToday reports:

Last year, 46 states applied for the federal abstinence-education money, to fund programs in schools, neighborhood clubs and faith-based organizations.

Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, says abstinence programs are among many messages that have helped reduce teen pregnancy rates. But "the notion that the federal government is supporting millions of dollars worth of messages to people who are grown adults about how to conduct their sex life is a very divisive policy," she says.

"We would oppose any program that stigmatizes unmarried people," adds Nicky Grist, executive director of the Alternatives to Marriage Project, a non-profit organization based in Brooklyn, N.Y., that advocates for the rights of unmarried people.

For last year's state grants, Congress appropriated $50 million. A similar amount is expected for 2007, but the money has not yet been allocated, according to the Administration for Children and Families.

"I think the program should talk about the problem with out-of- wedlock childbearing — not about your sex life," Brown says. "If you use contraception effectively and consistently, you will not be in the pool of out-of-wedlock births."

$50 million of our tax dollars to tell adults to not have sex until they are married. Have you ever heard of a more futile, pointless, and ignorant use of taxpayer money?

Look, no government program is going to stop anyone of any age from having sex. The only influence on this factor of life is parental influence. I was raised in a home with older sisters and a mother who freely discussed sexual matters and involved me in the conversations. I had no curiousity to satisfy. I was told about sex. I understood sex. I was educated at home and instructed in morality and what happens when you do stupid shit. You end up in trouble. Yet, I knew that I was fully supported. Still, I didn't experiment with sex. I didn't have to.

I had friends whose parents would have died before discussing sex with them. They had sex early. They suffered the consequences. They had the same education at school as I did.

No government program will stop youngsters from having sex. Only their parents have that capability and responsibility.

No government program will stop adults from having sex. No one else will either. No one else should. It's called freedom. Freedom has responsibilities and consequences. If they haven't learned that by adulthood, too bad. It's their problem. Not mine.

And don't give me that welfare mother bullshit. Telling someone that sex makes them pregnant and not having sex doesn't has nothing to do with that situation. They know, already.