Category: Birth Control

January 25, 2010

Pregnancy Pact: What works best – abstinence or contraception?

by Carlotta Morrow — Categories: abstinence, Birth Control, Condoms, Contraceptives, Sex Education — Tags: , , , , , , , — 13 Comments

*SPOILERS ALERT!*

I stopped watching the Lifetime channel movies long ago.  But every now and then a new movie would catch my eye and draw my curiosity and the movie Pregnancy Pact did just that.  It was a fictional movie based loosely on the teen pregnancy drama of Gloucester, Massachusetts that happened in 2008, where several teen girls became pregnant at the same time.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but as I sat through the movie, I became angrier and angrier.  Of course the movie had to have a conservative Christian mom and of course that mom had to be the mother of one of the expectant teen girls.  And of course she had to be the one who pushed for no contraceptives on school premises and had to be the one to jump on the contraceptive bandwagon at the end of the movie.

The movie was pitiful as you see the girls gleefully decide to have babies at the same time so that their children can be lifelong friends as many of them were, knowing one another since they were so little.  They fantasized how their babies’ fathers would be with them, and how they would take care of them and etc.  But in the latter part of the movie, many of the girls found out that their fantasizing was just that as life proved to be much more difficult than imagined.

The problem wasn’t so much the availability of contraception as most of the girls WANTED babies.  What contributes to a young girl’s mind to want to have a child out of wedlock and before she can marry and provide for it? In the movie there were glimpses of possible reasons.  There was a magazine cover of Jaime Lynn Spears and her baby, Brittany spears teen sister who had a baby.  There were parents who weren’t home to monitor their children’s whereabouts or parents who believed there children wouldn’t do anything when left alone in the house with their boyfriend as the conservative mother believed of her “saintly” daughter.

The movie was good in showing the consequences of such irresponsible behavior. One girl’s baby was born prematurely, while others boyfriends had completely forsaken them. Other’s saw that there wasn’t the availability of on campus childcare.  It showed that it wasn’t as glamorous being a teen mom as they had fantasized.

Many questions arose from watching this movie like the following:

  • Does abstinence teaching in public schools have any positive affects?
  • Should girls who are expecting babies stay in the same schools throughout their pregnancy? Images of big bellies walking through school hallways or girls with babies pushing strollers made you wonder if other girls yearned for the same.
  • Should there be daycare centers on the school ground? How many girls secretly longed for cute little babies like they saw in the daycare?
  • Would birth control clinics have provided a means of birth prevention among the teens?
  • Should abstinence AND contraception be taught together?
  • What can the parent do to keep their child from glamorizing having a baby?

According to the workbook provided by Lifetime, 73% of parents believe both abstinence and contraception should be taught together.  I agree to a point and that explaining contraception should be a part of the overall sex talk a parent would have with their child.  But to have contraception available is where it I would draw the line.  Having contraception available does send the message that it’s okay to have sex.   I grew up being taught to wait until marriage but was told that birth control would be provided if I needed them.  Well, I took that as a go and did ask my parents for birth control pills.  I didn’t think otherwise as I didn’t have an upbringing which taught that having sex was biblically wrong to do.

In the movie, although contraceptives weren’t made available abstinence teachings were allowed.  As a Christian, I see a problem with teaching abstinence without teaching WHY one should abstain.  Without the why, biblical admonition – and without the how – through a relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – abstinence teachings become near impossible! It’s hard enough to the committed Christian letting alone teaching it without a strong spiritual foundation.

For the Christian family teaching sex is a definite no as it goes against biblical principals.  Any sex outside of marriage is condemned (see Galatians 5:19, Ephesians 5:3, and Colossians 3:5). So what should the Christian family do?

  1. State your values and stick to them!  – The bible is clear that there should be no sex before marriage.  Don’t compromise God’s values to match the world’s values.
  2. Communicate EARLY with your children.  Do age specific conversations with your children about sex and your expectations of them regarding it.
  3. DO NOT send mixed signals such as saying no to sex but yes to contraceptives.  No means no!
  4. Get your children involved with youth groups at church (get referrals for good groups).
  5. Be active in your children’s schools and know what is being taught as far as sex and birth control are concerned.
  6. And be proactive in supervision. Never assume your child is strong enough to handle tempting situations!

These are just a few of the known tips I followed myself in raising my five children.  Not all of my children abstained before marriage but that didn’t change my values.  Two of my children as young adults in their early twenties, are still virgins.  They have already proven wrong the theory that “all teens will have sex” as they both have chosen not to.

Times are modern and sexual views have changed over the years, but God and his Word never changes! Recognize God’s values, be an example to your children and live by them and then teach with the expectation that your children can make it!

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17

Updated 1/27/10

June 13, 2008

No Condoms, No Pills! (Part 1)

by Carlotta Morrow — Categories: abstinence, Birth Control, Sex Education, STD statistics — Tags: , , , , , , , — 4 Comments

Top 3 STDs and their statistics

Something has been gnawing on my soul ever since I heard it reported on the news: the STD rates among women are increasing each year, especially the teenagers and young adult women. STDs are taking a toll not only physically, but economically too. And statistically, the greater number of STDs are from black women.

Being black and a mother, this is especially alarming. What is going on within the black family and why are we more prone to STDs then others? I may have a few answers with definite solutions to those issues.

But first a few facts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC).

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) remain a major public health challenge in the United States. While substantial progress has been made in preventing, diagnosing, and treating certain STDs in recent years, CDC estimates that approximately 19 million new infections occur each year, almost half of them among young people ages 15 to 24. In addition to the physical and psychological consequences of STDs, these diseases also exact a tremendous economic toll. Direct medical costs associated with STDs in the United States are estimated at up to $14.7 billion annually in 2006 dollars.

19 million new infections each year and that mostly from the young 15 -24? Ouch! What mother wouldn’t be concerned about this especially if they have opened the door by allowing their children to be sexually active “as long as they use protection.” Could your or my child be in this category?

The statistics I’ll share are primarily from the three main STD’s that the CDC has concentrated their reporting on: chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. The CDC laments that most STDs go undetected such as papillomavirus and genital herpes, and aren’t reported at all. But check this out from the CDC starting with the number one reported STD, Chlamydia:

Chlamydia remains the most commonly reported infectious disease in the United States. In 2006, 1,030,911 chlamydia diagnoses were reported, up from 976,445 in 2005. Even so, most chlamydia cases go undiagnosed. It is estimated that there are approximately 2.8 million new cases of chlamydia in the United States each year.

What is chlamydia? According to the CDC:

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection that can easily be cured with antibiotics, but usually occurs without symptoms and often goes undiagnosed. Untreated, it can cause severe health consequences for women, including pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), ectopic pregnancy, and infertility.

I’ve had an ectopic pregnancy and that is one painful thing to have! The baby is lodged in the fallopian tube instead of the womb and it grows there, thus causing the pain! Most ectopic pregnancies are terminated due to its dangerous nature. I had gone to the doctor’s office when I was experiencing the pain, and once it was diagnosed of the ectopic lodging, he told me to go straight to the emergency room he met me and removed not only the baby, but my tube as well. My husband and I had already had two children by that time, but don’t worry you women who have experienced this. I had three more children after the surgery! So yes, the Lord can still bless you with children with just one tube!

Now the next STD, gonorrhea:

Gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported infectious disease in the United States, with 358,366 cases reported in 2006. Following a 74 percent decline in the rate of reported gonorrhea from 1975 through 1997, overall gonorrhea rates plateaued, then increased for the past two years. In 2006, the gonorrhea rate was 120.9 cases per 100,000 population, an increase of 5.5 percent since 2005 and an increase for the second consecutive year. Like chlamydia, gonorrhea is substantially under-diagnosed and under-reported, and approximately twice as many new infections are estimated to occur each year as are reported.

And some info on gonorrhea:

While gonorrhea is easily cured, untreated cases can lead to serious health problems. Among women, gonorrhea is a major cause of PID, which can lead to chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy, and infertility. In men, untreated gonorrhea can cause epididymitis, a painful infection in the tissue surrounding the testicles that can result in infertility. In addition, studies suggest that presence of gonorrhea infection makes an individual three to five times more likely to acquire HIV, if exposed.

Scary news here about gonorrhea, it is increasingly becoming more resistant to drugs, especially among the men have sex with men (MSM) category:

Overall, 13.8 percent of gonorrhea isolates tested through GISP in 2006 demonstrated resistance to fluoroquinolones, a leading class of antibiotics previously recommended to treat the disease, compared to 9.4 percent in 2005 and 6.8 percent in 2004. Resistance to the fluoroquinolones has been highest among men who have sex with men (MSM). From 2005 to 2006, resistance among heterosexuals nearly doubled from 3.8 to 7 percent and continued to increase among MSM from 29 to 39 percent.

And the third most common STD, syphilis which according to the CDC, numbers has increased for the sixth straight year:

The rate of primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis — the most infectious stages of the disease — decreased throughout the 1990s, and in 2000 reached an all-time low. However, over the past six years, the syphilis rate in the United States has been increasing. Between 2005 and 2006, the national P&S syphilis rate increased 13.8 percent, from 2.9 to 3.3 cases per 100,000 population, and the number of cases increased from 8,724 to 9,756.

Syphilis info:

Syphilis, a genital ulcerative disease, is highly infectious, but easily curable in its early (primary and secondary) stages. If untreated, it can lead to serious longterm complications, including brain, cardiovascular, and organ damage, and even death. Congenital syphilis can cause stillbirth, death soon after birth, and physical deformity and neurological complications in children who survive. Syphilis, like many other STDs, facilitates the spread of HIV by increasing the likelihood of transmission of the virus.

Again, the men having sex with men category is a leading cause of the rising statistics for syphilis:

Rising Rates Driven Largely by Cases among Men Who Have Sex with Men

The rate of P&S syphilis among men has risen 54 percent over the past five years (from 3.7 per 100,000 in 2002 to 5.7 per 100,000 in 2006), driving overall increases in syphilis rates for the nation.

This isn’t even talking about AIDS but here are some facts regarding that STD and the black man or woman:

When we look at HIV/AIDS by race and ethnicity, we see that African Americans have

  • More illness. Even though blacks (including African Americans) account for about 13% of the US population, they account for about half (49%) of the people who get HIV and AIDS.
  • Shorter survival times. Blacks with AIDS often don’t live as long as people of other races and ethnic groups with AIDS. This is due to the barriers mentioned above.
  • More deaths. For African Americans and other blacks, HIV/AIDS is a leading cause of death.

These are all very alarming statistics and something has to be done to stop these increases, if not eradicating these diseases altogether. That in itself may not be possible, but at least getting these statistics to decrease and not increase! How can we begin to do that? Where does it all start? What can we do to slow down these statistics?

My theory to that answer in Part 2.

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