Demeaning Sexuality: Bush appoints Eric Keroack
November 18, 2006 by Conservative Culture
Filed under Marriage Expansion
(Photo Credit: A Woman’s Concern)
Outside The Beltway and Andrew Sullivan have finally found their common ground. This was rather disappointing since OTB never cites the source of the quote being considered and didn’t digg for the context of the position Eric Keroack have taken on contraceptives.
“A Woman’s Concern is persuaded that the crass commercialization and distribution of birth control is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality and adverse to human health and happiness,” the group’s Web site says.
What OTB seems to rely on as a source for this is none other than the Washington Postt which blasts Keroack’s appointment to the Department of Health and Human Services
The appointment, which does not require Senate confirmation, was the latest provocative personnel move by the White House since Democrats won control of Congress in this month’s midterm elections. President Bush last week pushed the Senate to confirm John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations and this week renominated six candidates for appellate court judgeships who have previously been blocked by lawmakers.
The real crime is that Keroack has worked for a Christian Pregnancy Counseling organization called A Woman’s Concern. What OTB has done is to assume that they are against any contraceptives for anyone. Reading from the website the group attacks the position that ’safer’ sex between unwed monogamous couples isn’t safe.
Q: How safe is “safe sex”?
A: Few professionals are using the phrase “safe sex” anymore; most have switched to saying “safer sex” because condoms do not provide 100% protection. If they are used correctly and consistently (every time any sexual contact occurs), condoms can reduce the risk of transmitting most STDs, but they work differently against different STDs. They are most effective against HIV but much less effective against other infections, especially STDs that are spread by skin-to-skin contact, like Herpes. For those, the infected area is often not covered by a condom, which means the condom is doing nothing to prevent transmission of that STD. The only way to completely avoid risk of STDs is to wait to be involved in sexual activity until you are in a faithful, lifelong relationship (like marriage) with an uninfected partner.
What is demeaning is to separate sex to a mere act outside of love and commitment. Where is the love when a society promotes behavior that is inherently dangerous while giving the illusion that they are safe?
Will condoms prevent HIV infection, the virus that causes AIDS? While it is better than nothing, the bottom line is that condoms cannot be trusted. A study from Florida looked at couples where one individual was HIV positive and the other was negative. They used condoms as protection during intercourse. Obviously these couples would be highly motivated to use the condoms properly, yet after 18 months, 17% of the previously uninfected partners were now HIV positive. That is a one-in-six chance, the same as in Russian roulette. Not good odds!
Considering that STD numbers are difficult because many go undetected the numbers at an early age are disturbing.
* Almost half of all students in grades nine through twelve have had sex.
* Half of all girls are likely to be infected with an STD during their first sexual experience.
* Nearly one in four sexually active teens have an STD.
* Teens will contract nearly one in four of the 15 million new cases of STDs this year.
* Teens make up 10% of the population, but they contract up to 25% of all STDs.
* Herpes (specifically herpes simplex type 2 or “genital herpes”) has skyrocketed 500% among white teenagers in the last 20 years.
* One in five children above age twelve tests positive for herpes type 2.
* One in ten teenage girls has Chlamydia; half of all new Chlamydia cases each year are diagnosed in girls 15 to 19 years old.
It gets worse. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported in a February 2002 editorial that the number of people with asymptomatic STDs (diseases with no outward symptoms like lesions or warts) probably exceeds those whose diseases are diagnosed. This means that the epidemic may be twice as large as we think.
The STD epidemic is a catastrophe. Millions of teens have been hurt. Millions more are threatened. Diseases are tearing into the bodies of our children in ways that will cause irreparable harm or possibly death.
If you want some real reading however, you might check out this pdf by Josh McDowell who has researched this topic extensively and understands the Christian perspective.
I couldn’t disagree with Sullivan and OTB on this topic. But it isn’t the first time. It amazes me how many ‘conservatives’ don’t understand this position.
Cao’s Trackback party is here.
James Joyner
on Sat, 18th Nov 2006 10:22 am
I take issue with K-Lo’s statement, which stands on its own merit. Neither my post nor Sullivan’s has anything to do with Keroack or AWC. The WaPo link is from her post and I include it in my blockquote of it.
As Sullivan notes, K-Lo isn’t talking about teen sex but about sex generally. Further, if one includes condoms in the category of “contraceptives,” I would say they are the best means of preventing STDs out there.
Cao
on Sat, 18th Nov 2006 2:50 pm
You left out abstinence. I don’t think there’s anything that beats that.
Anonymous
on Tue, 21st Nov 2006 12:56 am
If you’re going to quote statistical data, please use unbiased research. Probe Ministries has an obvious appearance of preference for the conclusions, to further its agenda. Its relationship to an organization with a non-mainstream position (Discovery Institute) makes anything it has to say suspect.
Furhtermore, it is easy to take the cited statistics and make them sound much worse than the original authors intended, which is why such references need to be backtracked to the studies and columns they were written in (e.g., the JAMA statistics).
There may be concern about certain STDs, and every effort should be made so that sexual activity does not result in the passing of STDs, but the suggestion that young Americans are turning into STD factories is far from supported by the evidence most people have seen, nor does it appear to be the disposition of the public at large. If you plan to continue to suggest otherwise, please provide much more documentation. Thanks!
Conservative Culture » Eric Keroack: Demonizing of Good Behavior on Mon, 27th Nov 2006 5:32 pm
[...] These words set off the DhimWits and Moon Bats quicker than anything I have experienced. Frankly, I don’t care. I noticed this when I posted this article on Bush’s appointment of Eric Keroack to the HHS department. Not needing Senate approval it has attracted the ire of many. somethings began looking into when my hits when off the chart (for me) and all the articles pointed to the post on Keroack. People want to behave at their lowest ‘natural’ level without hearing that the behavior is wrong and continue to believe the lie others tell them so they can feel safe and fulfilled at the same time. Promiscious sex at any age is bad public health. It should never be encouraged. Abstinence education, even to those older than high school, is about promoting healthy relationships that will last a lifetime. It is about preventing the spread of disease and the creation of children out-of-wedlock. It is about building stable families for future generations. [...]
Opinion Mill on Sat, 30th Dec 2006 4:52 pm
Planned Parenthood opposes appointment of Dr. Eric Keroack…
In a recent press release, Planned Parenthood labels the appointment of Dr. Eric Keroack to head the nation’s family planning program as part of an “extremist agenda”. Keroack is characterized as “anti-birth control” and “anti-sex educatio…