Feds: No sex before 30

Expect plenty of disagreement. Just keep it civil.
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lukpac
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Feds: No sex before 30

Postby lukpac » Wed Nov 01, 2006 10:18 am

No, it isn't a joke.

Abstinence message goes beyond teens
Updated 10/31/2006 8:32 AM ET
By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY

The federal government's "no sex without marriage" message isn't just for kids anymore.

Now the government is targeting unmarried adults up to age 29 as part of its abstinence-only programs, which include millions of dollars in federal money that will be available to the states under revised federal grant guidelines for 2007.

The government says the change is a clarification. But critics say it's a clear signal of a more directed policy targeting the sexual behavior of adults.

"They've stepped over the line of common sense," said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that supports sex education. "To be preaching abstinence when 90% of people are having sex is in essence to lose touch with reality. It's an ideological campaign. It has nothing to do with public health."

Abstinence education programs, which have focused on preteens and teens, teach that abstaining from sex is the only effective or acceptable method to prevent pregnancy or disease. They give no instruction on birth control or safe sex.

The National Center for Health Statistics says well over 90% of adults ages 20-29 have had sexual intercourse.

But Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at the Department of Health and Human Services, said the revision is aimed at 19- to 29-year-olds because more unmarried women in that age group are having children.

Government data released last month show that 998,262 births in 2004 were to unmarried women 19-29, the ages with the most births to unmarried women.

"The message is 'It's better to wait until you're married to bear or father children,' " Horn said. "The only 100% effective way of getting there is abstinence."

The revised guidelines specify that states seeking grants are "to identify groups ... most likely to bear children out-of-wedlock, targeting adolescents and/or adults within the 12- through 29-year-old age range." Previous guidelines didn't mention targeting of an age group.

"We wanted to remind states they could use these funds not only to target adolescents," Horn said. "It's a reminder."

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."
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Rspaight
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Postby Rspaight » Wed Nov 01, 2006 12:31 pm

It would seem perfectly appropriate and on-topic to say:

Fuck them.

Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney

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Jeff T.
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Postby Jeff T. » Wed Nov 08, 2006 12:29 am

I've also wondered about how much fucking you should be able to do if you get divorced. Like once you have been married and that union peters out, are you expected to just not have sex until you find the person you wish to spend the rest of your life with?

Those of us who do not sleep around at all know that when you do meet the right girl or guy that really turns you on, you'd better go for it, and go all the way because it's very hard to find good sex partners. You know that ones that are magical that you remember forever even if it is only a one night stand. I have had a few of those, but the best ones did not happen until after 30.

I hate it when they try to remove the fun and pleasure from sex. They should be handing out colored condoms in various styles. :P :P :P :P :P :P :P

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Postby Bennett Cerf » Thu Nov 09, 2006 11:44 am


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lukpac
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Postby lukpac » Thu Nov 09, 2006 4:56 pm

That's a bit disturbing.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby Rspaight » Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:29 pm

Just a bit?

I'd say it's creepy as hell.

Getting the affection you want from a boyfriend from your father instead?

Giving your virginity "as a wedding gift"?

Yuck. It's the worst sort of women-as-property medieval Puritanism.

Want do you want to bet that many of these overweight, pasty dads are on their second trophy wives by now?

Ryan
Last edited by Rspaight on Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Jeff T.
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Postby Jeff T. » Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:32 pm

that second part some idiot tacked on about fathers and daughters about pushed it over the edge.

Really out there.

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Postby lukpac » Sun Nov 19, 2006 10:08 am

And if you have sex, no birth control.

Contraception, abortion foe to head family-planning office
POSTED: 1:09 p.m. EST, November 17, 2006

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration, to the consternation of its critics, has picked the medical director of an organization that opposes premarital sex, contraception and abortion to lead the office that oversees federally funded teen pregnancy, family planning and abstinence programs.

The appointment of Eric Keroack, a Marblehead, Massachusetts, obstetrician and gynecologist, to oversee the federal Office of Population Affairs and its $283 million annual budget has angered family-planning advocates.

Keroack currently is medical director of A Woman's Concern, a Christian nonprofit. The Dorchester, Massachusetts-based organization runs six centers in the state that offer free pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and counseling.

It also works to "help women escape the temptation and violence of abortion," according to its statement of faith. And it opposes contraception, saying its use increases out-of-wedlock pregnancy and abortion rates.

"A Woman's Concern is persuaded that the crass commercialization and distribution of birth control is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality and adverse to human health and happiness," its contraception policy reads in part.

"The appointment of anti-birth control, anti-sex education advocate Dr. Eric Keroack to oversee the nation's family planning program is striking proof that the Bush administration remains dramatically out of step with the nation's priorities," Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement.

A message left with A Woman's Concern was not immediately returned Friday.

Keroack's appointment as deputy assistant secretary for population affairs does not require Senate confirmation. He is expected to start work in the next several weeks, Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Christina Pearson said.

The department's assistant secretary for health, Dr. John Agwunobi, cited Keroack's experience in working primarily with "women and girls in crisis" in lauding his appointment.

"He regularly speaks to youth audiences on sexual risk behaviors and has been nationally recognized for his work on preventing teen pregnancy," Agwunobi said.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD