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April 27, 2005
the deepest sort of insanity
the first i heard of it was an april-fool's-day quiz on the NARAL web site. that the bush administration is putting forth the idea that condoms don't work and actually cause STD's and pregnancy.
it seems so absurd.
notification #2 is at the beginning of this salon article, the phrase, "anti-condom campaigns".
it comes as no great surprise to me that anti-abortion campaigners have now turned their attention to chemical means of birth control, because these means often do not prevent conception, only implantation. but barrier methods? condoms in particular?
i guess the basic delusion behind abstinence-only campaigns is that people are actually capable of following them. but we've got millions of years of human history that indicate that we aren't.
that's a reality the bush administration firmly refuses to grasp. but, you know, even if humans were capable of abstinence on a mass scale, can you really expect every single one of us to abstain? always? without fail?
jeez, at least leave us condoms.
(oh, i know, i know. freely available condoms = teenagers with ready access to a means of making sex safer = end of the world.)
Posted by lisa at April 27, 2005 08:47 AM | TrackBack
Comments
i am suddenly grateful that i attended an all-girl private school for nine years. if there's one thing they hammered into us over and over, it was that condoms are awesome. we had sex ed every other year and i don't remember abstinence being mentioned, well, ever.
sometimes when i read articles like the one in salon today, i get totally freaked out about the state of the country. how on earth did the religious right get so powerful? why on earth aren't more people all "hey, the constitution is awesome and it's worked pretty well for over 200 years, so let's keep using it"? i remember feeling a lot of pro-america sentiment as a kid, b/c america had freedoms that other countries didn't have. now what do we have to be proud about? i'm ashamed and afraid and this is why the only news i watch is the daily show. humor takes the edge off the fear.
Posted by: alicia on April 27, 2005 09:51 AM
in my high school (in raleigh) a friend an i put together a petition our senior year to make condoms available in the school nurse's office. we had tons of students and a surprising number of faculty sign it.
well, we took it to the principal's office, and he said that he could not in good conscience allow condoms in the nurse's office, because it would mean that he was condoning pre-marital teenage sex. of course-- we had girls walking around pregnant in the school.
it was like... welcome to the bible belt, y'all.
Posted by: lisa on April 27, 2005 08:24 PM
ok, so a) your comment won't post right away because i have to approve it first and b) you might get a server error but your comment probably posted anyway and c) previewing doesn't work so i've removed the preview button.