Planned Parenthood Advocate

Planned Parenthood Calls for Action to End Epidemic - Releases Report on STIs

Today, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS) released a report on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as part of a sustained effort to raise awareness of the STI epidemic in Minnesota. The report contextualizes the impact of STIs and HIV and explores solutions for addressing this critical health care need.

The Minnesota Department of Health released figures last month showing an alarming increase in HIV infections among young Minnesotans, with new HIV cases in the state increasing by 13 percent in 2009, marking a 17-year high. 

In addition, the state has seen successive increases in the rates of STIs over the past several years.  Last April’s 2008 STI report showed the highest level of infections ever, with over 17,000 cases reported.

STI rates are highest in the urban areas; however the rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea have increased the most in metro-area suburbs and Greater Minnesota.

“The persistent increase in STIs across Minnesota must be addressed and the public health community cannot do it alone. Minnesota policy makers must respond swiftly and strategically with evidence-based approaches that will effectively address this public health crisis.  Doing so will result in a healthier Minnesota,” said PPMNS President and CEO Sarah Stoesz.

More than 94% of Planned Parenthood’s 64,000 patients are women, the majority of whom are young adults, and 19% of whom are from communities of color. This population - female patients aged 26 and younger - are at the greatest risk of acquiring an STI. Many STIs s can cause permanent damage if not treated early. For example, women infected with gonorrhea or chlamydia are at risk of developing pelvic inflammatory disease.  Long term complications may include infertility, chronic pain and ectopic pregnancy and a significantly increased risk of acquiring HIV.

The report calls on the State of Minnesota to enact a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to reducing the state’s rising STI rates, including HIV infection. These rising rates of infection are a significant health threat to Minnesotans. Planned Parenthood urges the State to take the following steps to strengthen its prevention efforts:

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  • -Provide funding to address the unmet public health need for STI testing and treatment.  There is currently no dedicated state funding for screening and treatment of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections.
    
    -Require the Minnesota Department of Health to implement an HIV and STI public education campaign, complete an assessment of the necessary steps required to significantly reduce the state’s STI rates within five years and determine the total annual cost to the state's health care system of STIs, treated and untreated, occurring in adolescents and young adults. 
    
    -Provide for school-based, age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education programming that would offer young people the information and means to protect themselves. 

 

Planned Parenthood administers approximately 62,000 STI tests annually, including HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and HPV.  Planned Parenthood provides reproductive health education programming with a focus on reducing STIs and HIV and unintended pregnancies and provides sex education programs that empower communities to make healthy, responsible decisions about their reproductive health.

CLICK HERE DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

CONTACT: Kathi Di Nicola

651.755.9557

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VIDEO: How to talk to your partner about Condoms

by Karina

Web Editor
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund

It's day two of national condom week and today I'd like to feature this fantastic video created by Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Twin Cities Teen Council.

The Teen Council is a youth development program that incorporates comprehensive sex education, peer education, and community service.  Teen council members spend their time educating their peers and community about comprehensive sexuality education and other reproductive health issues.

Their video, "Condom-ummication" focuses on what can be sometimes be an awkward conversation between sexual partners--how to talk about condoms.

 

Get more information on safe sex and condoms.

For more information on the Teen council, check out their informational video.

Seeing room for compromise

by Karina

Web Editor
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund

Saw a post on the City Pages Blog regarding Al Franken’s speaking appearance and a recent NARAL luncheon honoring the 37^th Anniversary of Roe V. Wade, and I just have to comment. 

The post, “Al Franken, reproductive rights, and a debate that goes nowhere”, pulls a section of Senator Franken’s speech and compares it to an MCCL press release, printed in full, to prove to its readers that “these two camps will never see eye to eye.” 

Via City pages:

This is not news: Both sides of the abortion debate are dug in tighter than a stubborn mule, each fearing any compromise will lead to hell on one side, or a return to the 18th century on the other, and claiming to represent the majority of Americans. 

Having already declared this, “not news,” I’m left wondering what the point of the post was? It seems only to exacerbate precisely the problem that this writer seems to take issue with.

His assertion that each side is stubbornly refusing to compromise is overstated at best, and totally false at worst. 

Both pro-choicers and pro-lifers continue to represent a range of views that do not fit into the black and white paradigm, which he perpetuates.

• -On Common Ground is an ongoing feature from RH reality check, a pro-choice website, that aims to find the similarities between pro-choice and pro-lifers to find common ground to work toward compromise.
• -Pro Life Pro-Obama is a website dedicated to reducing the need for abortion by advocating for better health care, support for parents seeking higher education, and better child care programs rather than banning abortion.
• -Former director of the Common Ground Network for Life and Choice shares her experiences during some trying times in Buffalo, NY.
• -Vice President Biden’s views on abortion further explain the shades of grey when it comes to views on abortion.
• -South Dakota voted against an abortion ban twice, not because they are a pro-choice state, but because they don’t believe the government has a role in the issue.

 

These are just a few of the many examples of compromise between pro-lifers and pro-choicers.   This is not to say that there aren’t people who are unwilling to compromise. For example, there are countless pro-life legislators who have voted against expanded family planning services,  increased access to birth control, and other initiatives that would actually reduce the number of abortion. These fervently pro-life legislators would rather spend their time trying to pass intrusive laws than actually reduce the abortion rate through positive, preventative solutions.

Planned Parenthood is a pro-choice organization, but respects a woman’s decision to carry her pregnancy to term just as it respect a woman’s choice to have an abortion.  Senator Franken explained in his speech at the NARAL Luncheon:

Now, let me say that there are millions of people in this country who have a sincere objection to abortion, and much of that is based on strongly held religious conviction. And I respect that. In America, we respect each other's religious beliefs. But we are not governed by them.

If there are groups who don’t see “eye to eye,” it’s those who believe in the separation of church and state and those that don’t. For pro-lifers and pro-choicers who actually want to reduce abortion, there’s plenty of room for common ground and compromise.

 

Data Show Need for Better Sex Education and Family Planning

by Karin
Web Correspondent
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund

Ten percent of all U.S. births are to teens. Wow. I did not know that until recently, when I read about a new study from the Guttmacher Institute (pdf). This study proves what experts had long predicted would occur – that teen pregnancy rates have increased after restrictions were imposed on sex education classes in schools during the Bush administration.

The news release about the study states that “The significant drop in teen pregnancy rates in the 1990s was overwhelmingly the result of more and better use of contraceptives among sexually active teens. However, this decline started to stall out in the early 2000s, at the same time that sex education programs aimed exclusively at promoting abstinence—and prohibited by law from discussing the benefits of contraception—became increasingly widespread and teens’ use of contraceptives declined.”

According to the study:

•    The teen pregnancy rate declined 41% between its peak, in 1990 (116.9 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15–19), and 2005 (69.5 per 1,000).
•    Teen birth and abortion rates also declined, with births dropping 35% between 1991 and 2005 and teen abortion declining 56% between its peak, in 1988, and 2005.

However, these trends reversed in 2006. In that year, there were 71.5 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15–19. Put another way, about 7% of teen girls became pregnant in 2006.

The reversal in 2006 also involved all demographic groups:

•    Among black teens, the pregnancy rate declined by 45% (from 223.8 per 1,000 in 1990 to 122.7 in 2005), before increasing to 126.3 in 2006.
•    Among Hispanic teens, the pregnancy rate decreased by 26% (from 169.7 per 1,000 in 1992 to 124.9 in 2005), before rising to 126.6 in 2006.
•    Among non-Hispanic white teens, the pregnancy rate declined 50% (from 86.6 per 1,000 in 1990 to 43.3 per 1,000 in 2005), before increasing to 44.0 in 2006.

State-level data are not yet available for 2006, but varied widely in 2005. The highest pregnancy rates were in New Mexico (93 per 1,000 women 15–19), Nevada (90), Arizona (89), Texas (88) and Mississippi (85), and the lowest rates were in New Hampshire (33), Vermont (40), Maine (48), Minnesota (47) and North Dakota (46). Teen pregnancy rates declined in every state between 1988 and 2000, and in every state except North Dakota between 2000 and 2005.

If we continue to move forward, pretending that our teens are not having sex, we are merely sticking our heads in the sand. According to the Guttmacher Institute:

•    By age 15, only 13% of never-married teens have ever had sex. However, by the time they reach age 19, seven in 10 never-married teens have engaged in sexual intercourse.
•    Twelve percent of teen males and 10% of teen females have had heterosexual oral sex but not vaginal intercourse.
•    A sexually active teen who does not use contraceptives has a 90% chance of becoming pregnant within a year.

That last statistic was particularly jarring to me, because it should be easy for teens to acquire contraceptives. The study reveals that only twenty-one states and the District of Columbia explicitly allow all minors to consent to contraceptive services without a parent’s involvement (as of January 2010). Two states (Texas and Utah) require parental consent for contraceptive services in state-funded family planning programs. Based on that information, it is not surprising to me that Texas is among the states with the highest teen pregnancy rates in the nation.

Ninety percent of publicly funded family planning clinics counsel clients under 18 about abstinence and the importance of communicating with parents about sex. What percentage of those clinics counsel teens about effective contraceptive use? Teens do not learn about contraceptive use and family planning unless someone takes the time and care to teach them.   They DO, however, learn about sex without someone actively teaching them. Unfortunately,  gossip, the media, and friends aren’t always the most accurate teachers.

The Guttmacher Institute’s studies make it clear that many teens do not feel they can talk to their parents about sex and contraceptives. In fact, one in five teens whose parents do not know they obtain contraceptive services would continue to have sex but would either rely on withdrawal or not use any contraceptives if the law required that their parents be notified of their visit. The effect of this would only be to further increase the rate of teen pregnancy: pretending that teens do not have sex does not mean that they won’t have sex. Only ONE PERCENT of all teens who use sexual health services say their only reaction to a law requiring their parents’ involvement in obtaining prescription contraceptives would be to stop having sex.

We need to face the fact that merely wanting teens to not have sex is not enough. Ignoring the fact that teens have sex is not enough. Pretending that teens do not have sex is not enough. We need to acknowledge it and provide better options for sex ed, contraceptives, and family planning counseling.  It is only through education and knowledge that we will reverse this trend. According to Heather Boonstra at the Guttmacher Institute, “the heyday of this failed experiment has come to an end with the enactment of a new teen pregnancy prevention initiative that ensures that programs will be age-appropriate, medically accurate and, most importantly, based on research demonstrating their effectiveness.”