Texas State Sex Ed Textbooks

Here's some more fun from my home state. They're passing a law that requires doctors to ask for parental consent to write prescriptions for birth control pills. They also have to inform the state government when someone under 17 asks for contraceptive prescriptions, since you're not allowed by law to have sex at that age.

Here's the article:Link

And here's a blog post on it: Link

A couple of quotes from the first article:

"This would result in an additional 11.45 pregnancies, 7.44 births and 2.29 abortions per 100 teenagers, costing approximately $61,000 per 100 girls.

"Also, the estimated increase in sexually transmitted diseases would cost $980 per 100 teens.

"The projected overall cost is approximately $43.6 million per year, Franzini's team reports. Even so, that figure underestimates 'the true costs to society because they include only direct medical costs,' they add. "

Joy. The politicians are unreal here.

CS

Sorry for all the extra space. The preview showed no line breaks at all, so I added some. Too many.

CS

So let me get this (ahem) straight - it's illegal to have sex if you are under 17 in Texas? At all? Then I must assume they are arresting every teen mother and her sex partner in the state, right?

And certainly no one would ever ask for a birth control presscription if they weren't having sex right? I mean, it's not like the pill is useful for anything else - like controlling bad menstrual cramps (that's why my sister went on the pill when she was 16 or 17, and I know for a fact that she was a virgin until 19, and her "first" is now her husband - damn those pills make you slutty!).

"using an American-made latex condom or female condom creates a barrier between the two partners, preventing any pathogen from moving from one partner to the other."

So is sperm a "pathogen"? And shall I infer that all non-U.S. condoms always break?

"This would result in an additional 11.45 pregnancies, 7.44 births and 2.29 abortions per 100 teenagers, costing approximately $61,000 per 100 girls."

In hospital bills, maybe. That doesn't include the cost of young girls' educations interrupted, their loss of earning power during their lives, or the cost of raising the children involved. Also, children of single mothers often become single mothers.

Say it, Texas, "condom. Con...dom." there, that wasn't so hard, was it?

They do note in the article that the $43.6 million doesn't count the non-direct costs. Another number bandied about was $61 million, but I can't remember the modified costs used to get to that number.

The age of consent in Texas is 17. If both sexual partners are under age, then each partner can file charges against the other for statutory rape. (Or the parents can, as legal guardians of the minors. This has been done, as I recall.) An affirmative defense can be presented if the age difference between the partners is less than two years.

And yes - even if the Pill was prescribed for reasons not having to do with contraception, the prescription must still be reported.

*sigh*

And Mr. Brayton wrote a post recently about a study specific to Texas abstinence-only programs here.

A colleague in my department is a devout Christian and listens to one of the local Christian talk-radio stations (in Dallas, they're on FM too). The radio host a couple of days ago reported on a study that shows abstinence-only programs result in a 50% reduction in teen pregnancy in the studied population.

I'd REALLY like to see that study. Any links?

CS

Ed: source for Texas teen preggers rate being 17 % higher than US rate and for US rate being double Euro rate? Can you post a link? Passing on your comments and am being asked for sources for those two figures.

Is there anyone out there who still thinks their goal is to reduce STDs and teenage pregnancy?

flatlander, here's the us reference:
http://www.teenpregnancy.org/resources/data/agistate.asp

Texas has a teen pregency rate for 15-19 year olds of 101 per thousand, US Ave is 84 per 1000, so Texas' rate is 17 points higher

Capt Sunshine,

I recall this study from at least 15 years ago. It was out West (Colorado?) where they had this abstinence program. At the time a much admired athlete (football? team captain?) came down with HIV/AIDS. Back then there was little that could be done about this so his condition soon deteriated to where he had to get around school in a wheel chair. He kept a possitive attitude but he was quick to remind others that unprotected sex could have terrible consequences.

You bet the teen pregnancy rate dropped dramatically. Somehow I don't think the abstinence program had much to do with it, but proponents still mention this study (without mentioning the athlete with HIV/AIDS of course.)

Ed: source for Texas teen preggers rate being 17 % higher than US rate and for US rate being double Euro rate? Can you post a link? Passing on your comments and am being asked for sources for those two figures.
The rates for Texas and the US can be found here. And the rates for the US vs. the Netherlands can be found here.

But, how can they fail to talk about condoms, since the Texas state education standards (Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills)(TEKS) require the books to address barrier methods of contraception?

Can the State Board really order publishers to disobey the law? Must the publishers comply?

You'd think with all the information about how this abstance-only shit doesn't work, people would listen. All you have to do is talk to a staunch abstance-only supporter and you'll get your answer. An older friend I had in college was downright terrified of sex (she said sex ed was like "teaching kids instruction on how to build a bomd and then telling them not to use it") and real contempt toward teenagers saying they were "too stupid to handle the responcibility" so it was better to scare them to death about sex. (I also had a total neo-con of an art teacher who whole-heartedly agreed with her.) I have a feeling that a lot of these abstance-only supporters might have some sexual hang-ups and/or resentment of the youth issues of their own.