FOF Urges Federal Government to Stop Peddling Dangerous Messages

Focus on the Family
Wednesday, 10 April 2002

New Report Reveals Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Promotes Sexually Explicit Material

Focus on the Family expressed outrage today that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) intentionally provides children access to erotica and knowingly publicizes destructive sexual health messages. These and other examples of the U.S. government's promotion of sexually explicit materials to teenagers through federally advocated Web sites and sex education curricula were detailed in a report released today by a national alliance of more than 2,000 practicing physicians.

The report from the Physicians Consortium uncovered graphic depictions of sexual behavior and promiscuity found in government-funded sex education curricula and on teen-oriented Web sites linked to by the CDC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). While many of the federally promoted courses are billed as "abstinence plus" programs, their material gives little or no mention of sexual abstinence. Instead, it actively encourages sexual activity by offering experimental sex tips to teens, using graphic sexual terminology and recommending condom exercises such as "Hide them on your body and ask your partner to find it."

"We are outraged that government agencies would deliberately exacerbate a public health crisis by promoting and allowing its grantees to promote destructive health messages to our teens," said Peter Brandt, director of Issues Response for Focus on the Family. "Every year, over 3 million young adults will acquire a potentially incurable sexually transmitted disease, and the government should not continue to encourage the very sexual activities that cause them."

The CDC's role in promoting inappropriate messages is all the more troubling because last July it released a scientific report revealing that condoms do not prevent most sexually transmitted diseases. The agency actually withheld the report for more than year, forced to publish it only after a copy was leaked to the media.

"The CDC's own report clearly proves that condoms simply are not the answer to our national epidemic," Brandt said. "Americans are paying dearly for their schizophrenic message.

"We owe the next generation more than a false promise and a flimsy piece of latex," Brandt added. "Many abstinence programs have changed the course of a teen's life by encouraging responsible sexual behavior, emphasizing character development and enabling a young adult for other life choices. We call on Congress to fund responsible education messages that focus on the best alternative for our children and affirm abstinence until marriage. We can and we must do better."

To receive a copy of the full report, e-mail the Physicians Consortium at: physconsortium@aol.com

For more information, or to contact Focus on the Family, see their website at: www.family.org