Anti-Condom Cardinal to Run Position by God (in person)
 Gillian Kane, of the International Women's Health Coalition, has a great post on RH Reality Check today detailing the controversial work and legacy of Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo who died Saturday. Trujillo was one the Catholic Church's highest ranking officials and headed up the "Pontifical Council for the Family" which, among other things, was dedicated to justifying the Church's anti-contraception agenda in the face of damning evidence of the damage its has resulted in worldwide. Kane writes, Trujillo was particularly active in the developing world where he preached against condom use. He argued that condoms were an ineffective prevention method against HIV/AIDS because they actually contributed to its spread by encouraging sexual promiscuity. Trujillo also argued, rather unscientifically that, "The AIDS virus is roughly 450 times smaller than the spermatozoon. The spermatozoon can easily pass through the 'net' that is formed by the condom." No matter that Trujillo's arguments were quickly debunked by the World Health Organization, and criticized by the European Union Commission and UNAIDS, Trujillo went so far as to recommend that condom packets include warnings, similar to those on packs of cigarettes, cautioning that condoms do not prevent but rather encourage the spread of HIV/AIDS. Trujillo wasn't single minded in his opposition to condoms; he disparaged all forms of contraception, which he referred to as "biological colonialism" imposed on poor nations by pharmaceutical companies and rich countries. This was certainly a polemical, if not persuasive, argument in regions dealing with the aftereffects of colonial rule. In my book, I discuss in depth Cardinal Trujillo's writing "Family Values verses Safe Sex" in which he claims "those promoting the condom without properly informing the public of its failure rates (both in its perfect use and in its typical use, and the cumulative risks), have led to, lead to, and will continue to lead to the death of many." What was particularly interesting about the Vatican's approach was that it appeared to rely on science for outcomes that it found fulfilling for other reasons. In a rare act of journalistic doggedness, the British Broadcasting Corporation examined the evidence on which Trujillo based his claims. "All [the scientists cited by the Vatican] told us they believe condoms are an essential component of an effective AIDS strategy and oppose the kind of general prohibition on condoms that Cardinal Trujillo advises," the BBC reported. In fact, the BBC discovered that "all authoritative AIDS specialists cited by the Cardinal do in fact support the use of condoms against HIV." In fact, the BBC worked with one of the scientists cited by the Vatican, Dave Lytle, a former senior researcher at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration who, in the 1980s, lead an investigation on the effectiveness of condoms. "My reaction is one of disappointment," Dave Lytle told the BBC. "[Trujillo] didn't pay attention to the paper, he took a number out of it, and basically misused it." Lytle told the BBC that the laboratory conditions of his test were not comparable to those that occur during sex. For one thing, the viruses he tested were one-fifth the size of the HIV virus, which he didn't test. Also, the pressures he used to test condoms were higher than those present in the typical sex act. Based on his research experience, Lytle concluded the exact opposite of what Trujillo wanted people to believe: normal intact condoms are "impermeable to HIV." The Vatican has camped out on the wrong side of history on this issue and the guide that took them scandalously deeper into those woods, Trujillo, is no longer leading the way. Luckily, most Catholics worldwide have already discovered the dangerous journey they were being taken on, and have taken a better, safer, way. As for the Vatican, the search begins for another evidence-manipulating extremist to fill the position.
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Leading Pro-lifer Says Obama is a “Pedophilia Promoter”
I always learn something from reading Jill Stanek’s popular blog. For example, today I learned Barack Obama promotes pedophilia. Who knew! And considering Stanek’s basis for claiming this, most of the adolescent medical establishment would be “pedophilia supporters” too. What earned Obama that claim is his support for providing sexually active minors accurate information about protection. The Society for Adolescent Medicine position statement on contraception is, “contraceptive education, counseling and services should be made available to all male and female adolescents desiring such care on the adolescents’ own consent without legal or financial barriers.” In Stanek’s view, Obama and the Society for Adolescent Medicine thereby believe children should be raped by adults. Of course, what makes her post so rich with irony is that just a few posts later she celebrates the arrival of the Pope, representative of the institution that covered up and, by aggressive inaction, sanctioned real pedophilia worldwide within its ranks for decades.
About this post: posted by Cristina Page at
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Trojan Wages a Battle Against Ignorance
In recent years, Trojan Brand Condoms have caught the attention of the American public with cheeky ad campaigns. They gave us a superhero, TrojanMan (what he lacked in sexiness he made up for in hilarity). Last year, they launched the Evolve television ad campaign, a lighthearted poke at men featuring a bar full of pigs hitting on (repulsed but polite) women. Finally, one smart pig gets turned into something of a prince for figuring out women are attracted to guys who protect their partners (and themselves). (It's worth mentioning that this ad was too racy for several networks which chose to ban it. Ironically, those networks seem to feature the most sexually reckless programming). This year though, Trojan has quelled the laughter and is instead reaching out to the American public with a message that's more of a plea: save yourselves. The new sobering Trojan campaign, The Trojan Evolve National Bus Tour, highlights the declining sexual health of Americans over the last few years, (ie: the Bush years—though they're not pointing any fingers.) Because primetime network television, shamefully, now bans condom advertising, Trojan has taken its safe sex message on the road (as they cutely put it, "The rubber hits the road"). They're starting this month (STI awareness month) to reach those most in danger of the highly preventable consequences of sex: college-age kids. The Trojan Evolve Tour will visit more than 80 cities and colleges and the Evolve "Immersion Zone" will appear at more than 50 music concert events and festivals from California to Mississippi to Washington, D.C. With a tip of the hat and an elbow in the side of the masterminds behind "Virginity Pledges," Trojan Evolve Tour will ask Americans to sign a pledge to use a condom every time and advocate for comprehensive sex ed in schools. Few Americans, when faced with the evidence, should debate whether to sign such a petition. The facts fueling this campaign are incontrovertible. As Trojan's Tour press materials explain, "America Is Not a Sexually Healthy Nation. The Trojan Evolve Tour launches in the wake of newly released CDC statistics indicating that one in four teen girls has a sexually transmitted infection (STI) , and syphilis, gonorrhea and Chlamydia, continue to rise in the general public. This is in addition to the 65 million Americans already living with an incurable STI. And for the first time in fourteen years, rates of unintended teenage pregnancy are growing, contributing to the over three million unplanned pregnancies occurring each year. Yet, only about one in four sex acts among singles involves a condom, resulting in over a billion acts of unprotected sex each year." You can check out if the Trojan Evolve tour is coming to your area by visiting the campaign's Facebook page. It's there that you can find other ways to support prevention and evidence-based solutions to unintended pregnancy and STIs. So show Trojan the love, especially since they've given you the chance to have it safely for so many years. Thank them for standing up to the anti-contraception, anti-prevention crowd which, if it had its way, would leave us with only frightening choices.
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A response to "Obama's Abortion Extremism"
I sent off a letter to the Washington Post in response to the column " Obama's Abortion Extremism" written by Michael Gerson. Now that it appears clear the Post is not going to run it, I will here: Dear Editors,
In his April 2 column, Obama's Abortion Extremism, Michael Gerson , Bush's former speechwriter, offered Presidential contender Barack Obama advice on how not to appear an extremist on abortion. Predictably, Gerson, by highlighting Obama's opposition to a abortion ban (a position, it's worth noting, on which he was joined by the whole of the medical establishment) he conveniently fails to credit Obama with the policies he supports that have led to fewer abortions, in particular, fewer late term abortions. What Obama should do, if he becomes the Democratic nominee, is begin to focus the national conversation over abortion on results not just rhetoric. If we as a country measured the pro-life and pro-choice movements by the effectiveness of their strategies, most pro-life voters would likely vote pro-choice. Obama should point out that the countries with the highest abortion rates in the world are those that have adopted the strongest pro-life policies and countries with the lowest rates are the most pro-choice. He should reveal to the American public that there is not one pro-life group in the United States that supports contraception, rather most are leading campaigns against contraception, even though contraception is the only proven way to prevent abortion. Obama should not get ensnared in the dishonest debate about "partial birth abortion"—he should instead discuss the many studies showing its pro-life policies that lead to more late term abortions and it was the legalization of abortion alone that reduced our nation's second trimester abortion rate by half. Pro-life spin doctors, like Gerson, have great talking points but few solutions when it comes to preventing abortion. Obama should start taking credit for the policies he supports that lead to the results Americans want. By just steering voters to the facts, he'll even attract pro-life voters to his side.
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The Writing on the Wall: Pro-Choice Students Wage Bathroom Stall Contraception Information Campaign, Find Captive Audience
Here’s a story about contraception sticker shock on campus of a flavor different than the rising price of contraception for college students. Pro-choice students at Georgetown University are fed up with the lack of information provided to women about pregnancy prevention at the Catholic college, particularly emergency contraception. Georgetown student and Choice USA member, Sam Demetriou, blogs this week on RH Reality Check about a sticker campaign launched by the campus pro-choice group, H*yas for Choice, and appearing mainly in bathroom stalls around campus. Since Georgetown receives orders on what sexual health information it can provide students directly from the Vatican, information about contraception is prohibited from beng distributed through official university channels. To counteract the resulting ignorance on campus, H*yas for Choice has taken a vigilante approach to education. Demetriou explains,
“When a woman enters a bathroom stall almost anywhere on Georgetown University's campus, she is immediately confronted with the ongoing battle between the stickers that adorn the inside of the stall doors. The university supplies stickers with information about its pregnancy support services while H*yas for Choice, Georgetown's (unofficial) pro-choice organization, covertly distributes stickers that provide contact information for Planned Parenthood and instructions on how to obtain emergency contraception (EC)…
The battle wages because Georgetown's Pregnancy Support Services is a Crisis Pregnancy Center. The services they provide accord with the university's Jesuit Catholic identity, as does the fact that condoms are not provided anywhere on campus by the university and that a woman can only obtain the birth control pill if she plans to use for reasons other than contraception…
We provide comprehensive information to students, not only regarding pregnancy, but covering all aspects of reproductive health and contraception. One way students can access these resources is through those stickers we place on bathroom doors. For a more complete list, they can visit our website at any time, or our table every Monday and Thursday between 10 am and 4 pm. We provide information, contacts, and also free condoms for anyone.”
In the belly of the beast, H*yas for Choice has transformed the women's room into a women's resource. If those walls could talk they'd say thanks.
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