same year. However, apparently because contraception was not an issue, both received only a perfunctory reference in the last paragraph of a front page article on this case. Was there really a concern for the well-being of a teen victim or was it an opportunity to take the focus away from Title X as a public health issue and replace it with personal religious ideology shrouded in the cloak of "parental_control?" "Parental control" has long been a wedge issue for ultra-conservatives and to engender fear is an effective tool when in reality your position has no substance. Religious political manipulation can have tragic consequences in the lives of real people especially when it is substituted for sound professional consideration on issues of public health. Teenage sex is a serious issue with two aspects: (1) moral, and (2) public health. The morality of the issue must be handled by the teenagers, their parents, and their clergy or other professionals they wish to involve. The public health side is appropriately handled by the civic agencies such as the Health Department which is charged with maintaining the health and safety of the citizenry. It is yet another example of the importance of keeping issues properly categorized. It was when the Health Department abandoned its civic mission and became an arbiter of morality due to extreme political pressure that the issue became so muddled that everyone sustained a loss; the teens, the community, the taxpayers and the integrity of our local government. The ideal concept of parents communicating and guiding their adolescents through the difficult years to adulthood is one on which we can all agree. The problem is, we are not in an ideal world. We are in a world of advertising which sells products by promising better sexual opportunities. A world where there are less than ideal homes, where little or no information is given, where parenting skills are lacking and in some where real abuse exists. The confidentiality of Title X is no threat to parental involvement. Parents can and should talk to their children and educate them on these issues every day of their lives. With accurate information, open communication and the opportunity to discuss good and bad choices along with consequences and responsibilities... many of society's problems could be solved. The concept of parental involvement is right. But laws are not the answer. More realistically, in our community, as in many, we need to build the societal infrastructure to ensure reasonable success for our teen population in navigating the difficult adolescent years. By that we mean comprehensive sexuality education and parenting classes for both parents and teens, a coordinated community effort sponsored by hospitals, schools, churches, local agencies and the media. What happened in McHenry County was not about parent's rights. It was about closing access to information, professional counseling and reproductive care. It was about changing the focus from all the positive elements of Title X and furthering a child rearing philosophy based on withholding contraceptive information. It was about punishing teens who have disobeyed their parent's by forcing them to bear the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease to teach them a lesson. It was also about some parents, unsure of their own ability to communicate effectively with their teens, trying to block out any source of information that might be available in the community. Something like burning books. If there was any doubt that right-wing politics and personal religiosity had a stranglehold on this issue from the beginning, it should be noted that it was the wife of the chairman of the health board who raised the level of rhetoric against Title X (with the backing of a local right-wing state representative). This person organized a demonstration outside the county building before a health board meeting where the only non-print medium represented was a religious television station. Locking the door of Health Departments by requiring parental consent will not keep teens from having sex. We know that 85% (Planned Parenthood) are already sexually active for nearly a year before they access those services. When they do, it is because they fear they may be pregnant. If contraceptive availability is not why teens have sex then what is? Many teens find solace in sexual relationships when love, attention and self esteem are missing in their lives. They want someone who will love them unconditionally and not leave. We fail to acknowledge that teenagers have sex for the same reasons adults do. We lose credibility when we deny that our children are sexual beings. But they must be made aware that having sex carries with it all sorts of responsibilities. They must feel a responsibility for the physical and emotional well-being of the other person and be prepared for all the possibilities and decisions that being sexually active may present to them such as disease and unintended pregnancy. For those reasons and others, it is both desirable and rational to be abstinent until physically, emotionally and financially able to enter a committed long term relationship. The professionals at health clinics can address the emotional and physical needs of their patients in a straightforward non-judgmental way. They can encourage better parent/teen communication to seek solutions for the reasons the teen feels the need for a sexual relationship. It can be the intervention that prevents that teen from becoming another abortion statistic or entering the welfare rolls as a single parent. This type of counsel is, in fact, required under the provisions of Title X. The issue should not be viewed as a matter of parental rights or a political battle to be won. It is simply the most compassionate and financially effective way of addressing real and pressing problems of preventative health care in our community. People of good will recognize that while everyone is free to guide their own children, we cannot close the door to a healthful and productive life to teens who, for whatever reason, are not receiving that guidance. A caring community should not abandon teens who are most at risk, those who are already disadvantaged by all the conditions associated with poverty, and dysfunctional or broken families. Those teens must also have access to good counseling and education from professionals they trust, who can help them learn how to make responsible decisions in their lives. |