Planned Parenthood President Richards Links Abstinence-Only Sex Education, High Teen Birth, STI Rates In Texas

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 17 Sep 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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In a speech Monday on sex education in Texas, Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards said that grassroots support is essential to making improvements in reproductive health and education, the San Antonio Express-News reports. Richards was a guest speaker during the Faith & Freedom Speakers series, which was co-sponsored by the Texas Freedom Network and Planned Parenthood of San Antonio and South Central Texas. She said, "Grassroots action is what makes the difference. We've got to be agents of change in America." She added that the "country is changing" but that President Obama "can only do so much."

Richards, the daughter of late Texas Gov. Ann Richards (D), founded the Texas Freedom network 14 years ago. The not-for-profit organization promotes public education and religious freedom in a way that counters religious conservatism. The group has lobbied the Texas Legislature in support of comprehensive, medically accurate sex education in public schools.

Kathy Miller, president of TFN, said the group conducted a study this year that found that more than 95% of state schools only offer abstinence-only education programs. She said, "At the same time, for six years in a row, Texas led the nation in multiple births to teens," adding, "We've been in the top three in the nation in teen births."

As part of her speech, Richards highlighted the status of sex education and teen pregnancy statistics in the state. She also praised the Obama administration's fiscal year 2010 budget proposal, which would cut funding for abstinence-only sex education. She said abstinence-only sex education is a "political program, and we're only now beginning to see what it has brought us." To illustrate her point, she held up a textbook used in Texas sex education classes. "There's absolutely nothing in here about using a condom or anything else that would prevent" a sexually transmitted infection, she said.

Richards said PPFA is collaborating with other organizations, like MTV and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to provide more teens with information that they might not have access to at school or at home. The collaborations include encouraging more young people to get tested for STIs and using technology, such as a 24-hour chat line, to provide information (Fletcher Stoeltje, San Antonio Express-News, 9/15).

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