Lilith
07-08-2005, 04:08 PM
(submitted by gekkogecko)
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO - A leading group of pediatricians says
teenagers need access to birth control and emergency
contraception, not the abstinence-only approach to sex
education favored by religious groups and
President Bush.
The recommendations are part of the American Academy
of Pediatrics' updated teen pregnancy policy.
"Even though there is great enthusiasm in some circles
for abstinence-only interventions, the evidence does
not support abstinence-only interventions as the best
way to keep young people from unintended pregnancy,"
said Dr. Jonathan Klein, chairman of the academy
committee that wrote the new recommendations.
Teaching abstinence but not birth control makes it
more likely that once teenagers initiate sexual
activity they will have unsafe sex and contract
sexually transmitted diseases, said Dr. S. Paige
Hertweck, a pediatric obstetrician-gynecologist at the
University of Louisville who provided advice for the
report.
The report appears in July's Pediatrics, being
published Tuesday.
It updates a 1998 policy by omitting the statement
that "abstinence counseling is an important role for
all pediatricians." The new policy says that while
doctors should encourage adolescents to postpone
sexual activity, they also should help ensure that all
teens — not just those who are sexually active — have
access to birth control, including emergency
contraception.
Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and
families at the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, said counseling only abstinence,
preferably until marriage, is the best approach
because it sends a clear, consistent message.
Teenagers who are sexually active should have access
to contraception, but making birth control available
to teens who aren't sends a contradictory message, he
said.
The academy's recommendations "to some extent confuse
prevention and intervention," Horn said.
Citing 2003 government data, the academy's report says
more than 45 percent of high school girls and 48
percent of boys have had sexual intercourse. While
teen pregnancy rates have decreased in recent years,
about 900,000 U.S. teens get pregnant each year.
Moreover, U.S. teen birth rates are higher than in
comparable industrialized countries, which may be
partly due to greater access to contraception in some
countries, the report said.
The Medical Institute for Sexual Health, a nonprofit
group that has worked on pro-abstinence programs with
the Bush administration and faith-based groups,
opposes the academy's policy shift.
"I don't think it's a smart move at all," said group
founder Dr. Joe McIlhaney Jr., an
obstetrician-gynecologist.
However, Karen Pearl, interim president of the
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the
academy "is to be applauded ... for having medicine
trump ideology."
HHS' Horn also said advising pediatricians to ensure
that teens have access to emergency contraception is
problematic for doctors and parents who morally object
to the pills. He faulted the report for lacking
guidance on what to do when pediatricians' moral views
differ from their patients' parents.
Emergency contraception, sometimes called the
morning-after pill, blocks ovulation or fertilization
and can prevent pregnancy for up to three days after
sex. Opponents consider it a form of abortion because
it is thought to also help prevent fertilized eggs
from implanting in the womb, and some pharmacists have
refused to sell it.
Emergency contraception was not mentioned in the old
report because it was new and relatively untested,
Klein said.
The academy supports making morning-after pills
available without a prescription, Klein said.
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO - A leading group of pediatricians says
teenagers need access to birth control and emergency
contraception, not the abstinence-only approach to sex
education favored by religious groups and
President Bush.
The recommendations are part of the American Academy
of Pediatrics' updated teen pregnancy policy.
"Even though there is great enthusiasm in some circles
for abstinence-only interventions, the evidence does
not support abstinence-only interventions as the best
way to keep young people from unintended pregnancy,"
said Dr. Jonathan Klein, chairman of the academy
committee that wrote the new recommendations.
Teaching abstinence but not birth control makes it
more likely that once teenagers initiate sexual
activity they will have unsafe sex and contract
sexually transmitted diseases, said Dr. S. Paige
Hertweck, a pediatric obstetrician-gynecologist at the
University of Louisville who provided advice for the
report.
The report appears in July's Pediatrics, being
published Tuesday.
It updates a 1998 policy by omitting the statement
that "abstinence counseling is an important role for
all pediatricians." The new policy says that while
doctors should encourage adolescents to postpone
sexual activity, they also should help ensure that all
teens — not just those who are sexually active — have
access to birth control, including emergency
contraception.
Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and
families at the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, said counseling only abstinence,
preferably until marriage, is the best approach
because it sends a clear, consistent message.
Teenagers who are sexually active should have access
to contraception, but making birth control available
to teens who aren't sends a contradictory message, he
said.
The academy's recommendations "to some extent confuse
prevention and intervention," Horn said.
Citing 2003 government data, the academy's report says
more than 45 percent of high school girls and 48
percent of boys have had sexual intercourse. While
teen pregnancy rates have decreased in recent years,
about 900,000 U.S. teens get pregnant each year.
Moreover, U.S. teen birth rates are higher than in
comparable industrialized countries, which may be
partly due to greater access to contraception in some
countries, the report said.
The Medical Institute for Sexual Health, a nonprofit
group that has worked on pro-abstinence programs with
the Bush administration and faith-based groups,
opposes the academy's policy shift.
"I don't think it's a smart move at all," said group
founder Dr. Joe McIlhaney Jr., an
obstetrician-gynecologist.
However, Karen Pearl, interim president of the
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the
academy "is to be applauded ... for having medicine
trump ideology."
HHS' Horn also said advising pediatricians to ensure
that teens have access to emergency contraception is
problematic for doctors and parents who morally object
to the pills. He faulted the report for lacking
guidance on what to do when pediatricians' moral views
differ from their patients' parents.
Emergency contraception, sometimes called the
morning-after pill, blocks ovulation or fertilization
and can prevent pregnancy for up to three days after
sex. Opponents consider it a form of abortion because
it is thought to also help prevent fertilized eggs
from implanting in the womb, and some pharmacists have
refused to sell it.
Emergency contraception was not mentioned in the old
report because it was new and relatively untested,
Klein said.
The academy supports making morning-after pills
available without a prescription, Klein said.