Young People Are Having Sex! (And this is "News"?)

by Jill Morrison, Senior Counsel
National Women’s Law Center

The experts said that the recent “news” that STDs are running rampant among young women is already old to those working in public health.

Here at Womenstake, we’d say that the STD study would be perfect for the Journal of Duh. What other outcome could we expect when the federal government is funding abstinence only education, which deprives students of the basic information needed to make sex (which they are apparently having) safer? A growing number of states are finally getting it, and have actually rejected abstinence only funding.   

Comprehensive sexuality education can help reduce the STD rate. You can help out by joining the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice’s Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Campaign, which promotes comprehensive sex ed.

As the folks who deal with these issues every day noted in their op-ed piece, ignoring the reality of teen sex doesn’t make it go away.