01/10/09

Proud to be American?

The US voted for hope. It (we, I) voted for change. It (we, I) got a president who suggested sensible things like basing health policy on good science. The US even got some senators who followed through with funding for programmes that would teach young people that if you want to have sex and not get pregnant, contraception works pretty well. Radical! The committee considering the funding proposal actually voted it through. A miracle! But then it choked on its common sense, and slapped another US$50 million on the table for abstinence only programmes that we know don’t work.

So we’ll have more pregnant teenagers, more ill-equppied child-mothers, more kids being poorly raised by resentful single parents whose own opportunities in life were cut short for lack of a pill or a condom. None of which leads to great health outcomes for either mother or child. Is it any wonder that the world’s wealthiest country trails the likes of Cypress, Morrocco and the Dominican Republic in health care?

If this depresses you, this gem from Paul Hipp might cheer you up.

Thanks to Txema and Kim Thomas.

This post was published on 01/10/09 in Good sex and bad, Ideology and HIV, Videos.

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  1. Comment by George Arndt, 17/10/09, 12:11:

    I understand that some of the highest levels of teen pregnancy is in the America South.

  2. Comment by elizabeth, 17/10/09, 06:12:

    Sorry, I’ve been hopless at finding four days free to put up all the refs etc. You can find the Ines video here

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