For
Immediate Release:
Planned Parenthood to McCain-Palin: Real Sex Education Works
New Ad Warns McCain-Palin
Will Leave Teens in the Dark
Madison, WI
– Amid the news the United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy
among the most developed countries in the world and at least one in four
teenage girls has a sexually transmitted infection, Planned Parenthood
Advocates of Wisconsin (PPAWI) is working to raise awareness about the need for
medically accurate, age appropriate sex education for teens during Real Sex
Education Week of Action. A new PPAWI online ad warns
voters that the policies of Senator McCain and Governor Palin will continue to
leave teens in the dark, vulnerable to unintended pregnancies and disease.
"An estimated 750,000 teenagers are expected to become pregnant this year,
and nearly four million will contract a sexually transmitted infection,"
stated Chris Taylor, Public Policy Director for Planned Parenthood Advocates of
Wisconsin (PPAWI). "McCain-Palin
want to continue to bury their heads in the sand and
leave our teens in the dark without adequate, factual information to avoid
pregnancy and life-threatening diseases, such as HIV/AIDS."
In the last decade, more than $1.5 billion federal and state dollars has been
wasted on dangerous abstinence-only programs that deny teenagers lifesaving
information. The Bush Administration,
with support from McCain, invested in abstinence until marriage programs which
studies indicate have had no impact on lowering teen sexual behavior, reducing
teen pregnancy nor stopping the spread of sexually
transmitted infections.
In contrast, a recent University
of Washington study demonstrated that students who receive comprehensive
sex education, which included information about contraception use, were less
likely to become teen parents than those who received abstinence-only
information. This study, along with a
plethora of other studies on the topic, shows that comprehensive sex education
programs had a positive impact on reducing teen pregnancy and the risk of
contracting sexually transmitted infections.
Teen pregnancy has had a tremendous economic impact on young women and on
taxpayers with only 40% of teenagers who have children before age 18 graduating
from high school. Teen mothers are also more likely to live in poverty than
women who delay childbearing, and more than 75 percent of all unmarried teen
mothers go on welfare within five years of the birth of their first child.
"Teen pregnancy is a devastating, yet preventable, public health problem,"
states
As a health care provider, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin knows firsthand the
power of education to help teens make responsible decisions about their health.
In 2006, we provided over 73,000 women, men and teens statewide with the health
information and services they need to prevent unintended pregnancy and protect
their health.
"We need leaders who will support education programs in our schools that
will keep teens healthy -- by including information about abstinence as well as
contraception, healthy communication, responsible decision making, and
prevention of sexually transmitted infections," says
For more information regarding the Planned Parenthood’s efforts to reduce
teen pregnancy, visit www.ppawi.org.
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Planned Parenthood Advocates of
Paid for by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin, a 501 c4 qualified
nonprofit organization, Tanya Atkinson, Treasurer.
Not authorized by any
candidate or candidate's agent or committee.