When it comes to self-control, the government has a hard enough time practicing it — let alone promoting it!
That’s why last week’s announcement from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) was so important. After years of burying its head in the sand and throwing billions of dollars at an STD problem it helped create, the government finally admitted what … common sense made abundantly clear: abstinence and monogamy are the only ways to avoid disease.
In its 2015 “Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines,” a two-word change made all the difference.
Five years ago, the CDC used to say abstinence and monogamy were “a reliable way to avoid disease.”
As of last Friday, the agency agrees it’s “the most reliable way”.
[ http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/06/05/federal-government-shifts-now-says-monogamy-abstinence-most-reliable-protections-against-stds/ ]
That may not seem like a radical edit to most people, but in this administration, moral purity is as foreign a concept as political transparency.
For years, FRC and other groups have fought the spread — not just of infection and disease — but of the mentality that sexual liberalism should be promoted in schools, prioritized in health care, and paid for by taxpayers. As a result, the government is spending $16 billion a year cleaning up the mess it helped make with the “if-it-feels-good-do-it” approach.
With more than 20 million new cases of STDs cropping up every year, America’s biggest health crisis may be the one nobody’s talking about.
A monster strain of gonorrhea is spreading, and experts say it might be worse than AIDS.
That explosion, along with the spike in chlamydia infections, syphilis, HIV, Hepatitis, and herpes is panicking the medical community, which sees that young people are disproportionately affected — “accounting for half of all new [sexually-transmitted infections].”
Fortunately, the CDC is finally acknowledging that the only way to stem the tide is to put new energy into an old strategy: saving sex for marriage.
And thanks to Congress, the government will have another $50 million a year to try. Under GOP control, the House and Senate just authorized the biggest raise for abstinence education since President Obama significantly slashed funding in 2009.
“If sex education were on the ballot,” the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA) has said, “abstinence education would win by a landslide — and not just with Republicans.”
Most people wrongly assume that the “save sex” message is a conservative one. Not so, says NAEA’s Valerie Huber.
In extensive polling, Huber’s organization found that almost eight in 10 Democratic parents support abstinence education.
Altogether, 85% of moms and dads think young people could benefit from the abstinence message.
The American College of Pediatricians recognizes that programs teaching kids to wait until marriage are about a lot more than postponing sex.
“They assist adolescents in establishing positive character traits, formulating long-term goals, and developing emotionally healthy relationships… These programs increase the likelihood of strong marriages and families — the single most essential resource for the strength and survival of our nation.”
Somewhere along the way, too many adults started operating from a position of lower expectations, as if teenagers were incapable of exercising any self-restraint.
It became assumed, not discouraged, that children would have sex.
With or without the government’s help, it’s time for parents to speak up and encourage their teens to do what’s counter-cultural.
Too many moms and dads think their kids aren’t listening to what they say about abstinence. Think again.
Parents are the single biggest influence on their children’s sexual decisions.
If the cultural influences from Hollywood and the media are committed to marketing promiscuity and immodesty at every turn, then as parents, we have to be just as committed to helping our teenagers fight those temptations.
It’s time for parents to challenge their children to live by a higher standard — otherwise, they’ll continue meeting the low standards the culture sets for them.
LifeNews Note: Tony Perkins is the president of the Family Research Council.
[9 June 2015, Tony Perkins, http://www.lifenews.com/2015/06/09/obama-admin-finally-admits-abstinence-is-the-best-way-to-avoid-sexually-transmitted-diseases/ ]
CDC Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines
“Abstinence and Reduction of Number of Sex Partners
The most reliable way to avoid transmission of STDs is to abstain from oral, vaginal, and anal sex or to be in a long-term, mutually monogamous relationship with a partner known to be uninfected.”
[ http://www.cdc.gov/std/tg2015/clinical.htm#methods ]
“Summary
These guidelines for the treatment of persons who have or are at risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) were updated by CDC after consultation with a group of professionals knowledgeable in the field of STDs who met in Atlanta on April 30–May 2, 2013.
The information in this report updates the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines, 2010 (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010;59 [No. RR–12]). These updated guidelines discuss 1) alternative treatment regimens for Neisseria gonorrhoeae; 2) the use of nucleic acid amplification tests for the diagnosis of trichomoniasis; 3) alternative treatment options for genital warts; 4) the role of Mycoplasma genitalium in urethritis/cervicitis and treatment-related implications; 5) updated HPV vaccine recommendations and counseling messages; 6) the management of persons who are transgender; 7) annual testing for hepatitis C in persons with HIV infection; 8) updated recommendations for diagnostic evaluation of urethritis; and 9) retesting to detect repeat infection. Physicians and other health-care providers can use these guidelines to assist in the prevention and treatment of STDs.
http://www.cdc.gov/std/tg2015/default.htm
Table of Contents [ http://www.cdc.gov/std/tg2015/toc.htm ]
Introduction
Methods
Clinical Prevention Guidance
STD/HIV Risk Assessment
STD/HIV Prevention Counseling
Prevention Methods
Partner Services
Reporting and Confidentiality
Special Populations
Pregnant Women
Adolescents
Children
Persons in Correctional Facilities
MSM
WSW
Transgender Men and Women
Emerging Issues
Hepatitis C
Mycoplasma genitalium
HIV Infection: Detection, Counseling, and Referral
Diseases Characterized by Genital, Anal, or Perianal Ulcers
Chancroid
Genital HSV Infections
Granuloma Inguinale (Donovanosis)
Lymphogranuloma Venereum
Syphilis
Syphilis During Pregnancy
Congenital Syphilis
Management of Persons Who Have a History of Penicillin Allergy
Diseases Characterized by Urethritis and Cervicitis
Urethritis
Nongonococcal Urethritis
Cervicitis
Chlamydial Infections
Gonococcal Infections
Diseases Characterized by Vaginal Discharge
Bacterial Vaginosis
Trichomoniasis
Vulvovaginal Candidiasis
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)
Epididymitis
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection
Anogenital Warts
HPV-Associated Cancers and Precancers
Viral Hepatitis
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis B
Proctitis, Proctocolitis, and Enteritis
Ectoparasitic Infections
Pediculosis Pubis
Scabies
Sexual Assault and Abuse and STDs
Adolescents and Adults
Sexual Assault or Abuse of Children
References
Terms and Abbreviations Used in This Report
Consultants