Abstinence Only?

Supporters of abstinence only education have chalked a new study by John B. Jemmott III, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania as a win in their column. The study, published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, compared the delay of sexual activity amongst students who participated in four different curriculums: abstinence only, safe sex, comprehensive, and a generic health class. The abstinence only portion proved to be the most successful. After two years, 67% of the students had abstained from sex as opposed to 58% of the students who learned a comprehensive curriculum.

Though many supporters of abstinence only education view this study as indisputable evidence of its efficacy, there is reason to be skeptical. First, one study does not undo the multiple studies that prove abstinence only to be ineffective. It is important to note that this particular study is very different from traditional abstinence based curricula. It doesn't teach misleading information like "condoms don't work" nor does it use a moralistic tone to convey its message. In fact, the purpose of the curriculum is to delay sex until "you are ready" rather than until marriage. This curriculum wouldn't even have been eligible for Bush era funding for abstinence based programs and very likely would be eligible for Obama's pregnancy prevention funding as it is medically accurate.

Love of Friends!

We are 6 short days away from Love of Friends!

In the words of the Love of Friends organizers: Love of Friends (LoF) began on Valentine's Day in 2007 as a potluck to share a night with friends. Valentine's Day is often stressful for many folks, single or otherwise. LoF looks to share this day with great people and take pleasure in the talents of our friends through their music and art, as well as share good food and great company.

Basically, we want to dance, meet new folks, talk to old friends, flirt, NOT FLIRT, dress to impress and SHARE. The preparation of LoF is friends old and new coming together to make food, decorate, sew, you name it, the whole production is put together by great folks!

Love of Friends is a benefit party that supports the efforts of The Midwife Center and Planned Parenthood of southwestern PA. 

Labor's Painful Enough; Imagine it in Shackles

No woman should have to go through labor while shackled. Not only is shackling unnecessary, it endangers a woman’s health, dehumanizes her, and is part of a larger system that often denies women fair treatment. Shockingly, this practice is commonly used in Pennsylvania on pregnant female inmates. Even though some prison systems in the state have already banned the practice, it still continues against policy. In Philadelphia five months after policy banning shackling inmates during labor was enacted, Tina Torres, a inmate waiting for her case to be brought before a judge (the case was later dropped), was shackled during her labor. The shackles were only removed once she went into the operating room for a C-section and then only at the doctor’s insistence. Torres is one women among many who have been handcuffed or shackled during their labor, the standard policy in the PA correctional system.

An insensitivity toward prisoners by genera has kept this policy tucked away in prisons and hospital rooms, but as it begins to be publicized and spoken about, some politicians feel a need to do something about it. Pennsylvania State Senator Daylin Leach proposes new legislation that would ban shackling pregnant inmates before, during and immediately after childbirth and labor. He calls the practice a “barbaric relic of the past,” and is attempting to bring a bit of compassion to an insensitive system.