Chastity: The 5 Most Frequently Asked Questions

1. What does chastity mean? 

Simple. In the context of sexuality, chastity is refraining from sexual intercourse before marriage -- and then practicing fidelity, understanding, and kindness during marriage.

2. Why should I practice chastity? 

Well, there are a whole lot of reasons including the often-overlooked spiritual values of purity. But here are a few specifics:

* You won’t have to worry about an unplanned pregnancy, a very real prospect for the sexually active. And yes, pregnancy is quite common even when various forms of “birth control” are being used. For instance, birth control failure rates among American teens are almost 20%. And that includes those condoms that advocates of “safe sex” (a tragic misnomer, indeed) are always pushing. Scientific fact? Condoms fail in pregnancy prevention 18%-35% of the time!

* You’ll be free of sexually transmitted disease. 12 million people contract a STD every year. That’s 33,000 people every day! And remember, besides “safe sex” not only being an effective defense against pregnancy, it isn’t all that safe for you in itself. For instance, condoms are not effective in preventing you from acquiring, say...Chlamydia, HIV/AIDs, or the Human Papilloma-virus. Yipes!

* You won’t have to deal with the loss of self-respect, loss of innocence, worry, distractions from important life goals, guilt, a ruined reputation, exploitation and so on. Plus, you’ll not be burdened with “damage control” problems (physical and/or emotional) that prior sexual involvement inevitably brings into your marriage.

3. But what if I really love my boyfriend (or girlfriend)?

 Isn’t having sex okay then? 

No; it isn’t. True love is about commitment and loyalty. It is serving and honoring the other person, seeking their very best. It is not exploitive.Authentic, self-sacrificing doesn’t push for momentary, risky, physical pleasure being paramount in the relationship.

A couple dedicated to one another in marriage exemplify genuine love, a relationship that values one another’s total personal (spirit, intellect, emotions, dreams and aspirations) and not only the physical.

4. How can I say “no” without losing my boyfriend (girlfriend)? 

Set your standards high and don’t compromise. Realize that the person who insists on having their way physically is not someone who has your best interests in mind. That’s not love. That’s merely using you which is a very bad precedent for your life together...even if you manage to stay together for awhile. Don’t settle for less than real love.

5. I have already had sex.

So, I guess it’s too late for me to think about chastity, right? 

No, not at all. It is never too late to begin doing the right things. You can always start over. And, as a Christian, I certainly stress the availability of forgiveness and empowerment that comes from believing in Jesus Christ. No one was perfect except Jesus. And He paid your penalty and mine when He was crucified. A new start is what Christianity is all about. And a practical application of that wonderful truth is this -- chastity is within our grasp today. Yesterday’s sins and hassles don’t need to enslave us. Let’s start fresh and pure and resolved to get it right this time.

Look at it this way. Say you’ve done something foolish and spent all the money in your savings account. Does that mean you can never start saving money again? Of course not. Despite the seriousness of the loss, you simply start from here on.  It’s the same way with your sexual lifestyle. 

Whatever has happened before, realize it is time to start “saving” again. Begin right now to save sex for its intended purpose -- and that’s the delightful, exciting, bonding experience you will share with your future spouse. And among the dividends of your “saving sex” for the right person and the right time are all those terrific benefits to your health, your heart, your mind, and your true love.

Chastity? It’s a winning lifestyle any way you look at it.

Okay, Now Christmas Is Underway!

Well, let's see now. We have had our first Christmas party and we have had a very successful Christmas card party with 11 of us writing nearly 140 Christmas cards to political leaders, businesses, Christian heroes, and persecuted Christians in other nations. And Claire and I have attended “Christmas at the Cathedral” at St. Cecilia’s and Mendelssohn’s Elijah at the Holland. We have watched Miracle on 34th Street, read a few Christmas-themed books, and started listening to Christmas music. We have even started to pass out CDs of Patrick Osborne’s latest music creation, Winter Night.

But it isn’t really Christmas until we’ve started in to the presentations of the Christmas “When Swing Was King” shows at area senior care centers! And that began (the first of 12) yesterday afternoon.

We are cordially inviting you to come along and enjoy the marvelous sights, sounds, memories, and holiday visits of these beautiful and festive events. The schedule is on the Vital Signs Ministries website and here is the songlist to help get you in the mood.

1) Benny Goodman Orchestra — “Jingle Bells”
2) Jerry Vale — “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
3) Frank Sinatra — “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
4) Mills Brothers — “O Come All Ye Faithful”
5) Gene Autry — “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
6) The Lennon Sisters — “Hark the Herald”
7) Perry Como — “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”
8) Nat King Cole — “O Holy Night”
9) Woody Herman Orchestra — “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town”
10) Judy Garland — “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
11) Glenn Miller Orchestra — “Silent Night”
12) Bing Crosby — “White Christmas”

Catching Up

From the weekend -- and the auspicious start of this week -- comes a list of some of the web's best reading. Have at 'em.

* “How Obama is scheming to sabotage Trump’s presidency” (Paul Sperry, New York Post)

* “Teen Vogue’s Pro-Abortion Assault on Underage Girls” (Stephen Herreid, The Stream)

* “Hillary's ‘Future Is Female’ Femme-A-Goguery” (Michelle Malkin, Town Hall)

* “The ever-expanding family of LGB acronyms” (Michael Cook, Mercator)

* “Planned Parenthood Still Hasn’t Produced an Annual Report. Here’s Why That’s a Problem.” (Melanie Israel, Daily Signal)

* “Why is Saturday Night Live News?” (John Hinderaker, Power Line)

* “Rogue Federal Bureaucrats Threaten Trump’s Agenda” (Fred Lucas, Daily Signal)

* “Report: 72 convicted of terrorism from ‘Trump 7’ mostly Muslim countries” (Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner)

Sifting Through the Rubble

Looking for some insightful commentary about the disastrous events of this past week? Here are five of the best I've read.

* “The Fatal Flaws in Comey’s Theory of Why Clinton Shouldn’t Be Prosecuted” (Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review)

* “This Bananas Republic” (Kevin D. Williamson, National Review) (“Mrs. Clinton couldn’t get indicted if she tried…But it is worth considering the context. The context is this: America is a lawless state.”)

* “Obama’s false racism claims are putting cops’ lives in danger” (John R. Lott Jr.,  New York Post)

* “Heather Mac Donald Talks (with Rush Limbaugh) About Her Essential Book: The War on Cops”

* “Uncovered documents show aborted babies used for government research started decades ago” (Carole Novielli, Live Action News)

* “How a rolling sexual revolution is crushing freedom: A strong voice from Europe warns that 'sexual liberation' is anything but.” (Gabriele Kuby, Mercator)

The Best of the Weekend

Here's a few of the best (and most important) articles of the past few days:

* “The ‘Party of CEOs’ and Religious Liberty” (Maggie Gallagher, NRO)

* “Obama to Remove Cuba From State Sponsors of Terrorism List. Why That’s Bad.” (Ana Quintana, The Daily Signal)

* “Democrats Are the Real Abortion Extremists” (Ian Tuttle, NRO)

* “You Won't Believe Why a University Deactivated a Christian Group” (Fox News)

* “Sex educators urge births” (Shannon Roberts, Mercator)

* “Hillary Clinton, Champion of the Downtrodden?” (John Hinderaker, Power Line)

Planned Parenthood Is Rewarded...for Abject Failure

What do you get when you fail to meet stated annual goals, reduce unhealthy outcomes, yet increase the number of deaths of human beings? Rewarded.

Yes, Planned Parenthood gets rewarded with taxpayer-funded welfare each year for failing. Despite their Healthy People goals set in states across the country and federally with the CDC (e.g. Healthy People 2010, Healthy People 2020) and grossly missing the mark every single time, they get rewarded. They don’t have to show progress or success in addressing any so-called “healthcare disparity”. They’re accountable to no one and to nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Sometimes it pays to be a big fat zero.

This has been by design. With society’s animosity toward corporations that unfairly bilk the American taxpayer, this hugely profitable nonprofit bilker gets a pass from so-called “progressives” because Planned Parenthood’s mission is sacred to those who embrace eugenic population control and the pretense of women’s rights. Democrats in Congress like Richard Blumenthal, Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Chuck Schumer, Al Franken, Elizabeth Warren and many more liberal politicians want to ensure that Big Abortion (aka “women’s quality”) is protected at all costs…

Ryan Bomberger has a lot more to say in “Abortion Industry Welfare: It Pays Planned Parenthood to be a Big Fat Zero.” Catch it all in this LifeNews.com column.

Was the Sexual Revolution Supposed to Give Us This?

The sexual revolution was supposed to be liberating and progressive, remember? But I’m afraid that all the love-ins, the live-ins, and the hooking up for one night stands have brought us are a coarsening of culture and an uncountable number of broken hearts.

Here's just a few recent headlines to illustrate:

* “Why are baby boomers so divorce-prone?” (Pepper Schwartz at CNN)

* “Gonorrhea, Syphilis Regain Traction in U.S., CDC Reports” (Elizabeth Lopatto, Bloomberg)

* "CDC: U.S. Fertility Rate Hits Record Low for 2nd Straight Year; 40.7% of Babies Born to Unmarried Women” (Terence P. Jeffrey, CNS News)

* And, of course, don't forget the other fruits of the sexual revolution including the most bitter and blasphemous of all, the ongoing holocaust from surgical and chemical abortions.

Catching Fire? No, Just Catching Up.

Okay, we were all busy this last week: Thanksgiving activities, putting up Christmas, dramatic football games, etc. But if you're wondering what important news and commentary from the culture wars you missed in the meantime, let me give you a few links.

* Really? The Nanny State powers have gone to this level? "Child taken from womb by social services. Exclusive: Essex social services have obtained a court order against a woman that allowed her to be forcibly sedated and for her child to be taken from her womb by caesarean section." (Read the story by Colin Freeman at the Telegraph.)

* "Addison grew up fast last month. Not only did she find herself a pregnant college freshman at 17, but she found out behind the name Planned Parenthood were a bunch of folks who only wanted her to plan her parenthood if it meant killing her baby. All the ads about health care for uninsured women went right out the window. 'Choice' to these workers really meant “Choose to abort your baby or choose to stop seeing us for treatment.” (Here’s the whole story: “Planned Parenthood to Pregnant Woman: Can’t Help You w/o Abortion” by Susan Michelle over at LifeNews.com.)

* "ABC Preaches the 'Gospel of Polyamory' and the Saving Power of Threesomes" by Scott Whitlock at NewsBusters.

* A posh promotion by a murder-for hire firm (abortionists) seeking to rake in big bucks from the despicably self-indulgent. That's the all-too-real horror described in this LifeNews story. ("VIP Abortions: Herbal Tea Afterward in Hillary Clinton Room" by Stacy Trasancos.)

* A young Christian woman takes off her purity ring because she’s tired of living a life of waiting. But don’t get the wrong idea. The decision was a God thing. Read “I don’t wait anymore” from the blog Grace for the Road.

* “The Chew Chef Mario Batali Donates $5,000 to Pay for Women’s Abortions.” (Lauren Enriquez, LifeNews.com)

New Feminist Book Takes Issue with the Pill

Carolyn Moynihan, deputy editor of MercatorNet, gives an interesting review of a new book in which a feminist breaks from the pack on the subject of the so-called birth-control.

Holly Grigg-Spall is a young woman who calls herself a feminist but who is deeply unpopular with some of the sisterhood right now. English, 30-ish, married to an American and living in California, she has written a book criticising the contraceptive pill. Actually, Sweetening the Pill: Or How We Got Hooked On Hormonal Birth Control is more than critical; it is a sweeping polemic against the pill and every form of hormonal contraception. Since this wonder drug is celebrated by mainstream feminists (Nancy Pelosi, Cecile Richards, Sandra Fluke…) as the great liberator of women, you can see why the others are peeved with her…

I found the book rather frustrating, too, but not for the same reasons. The review copy I received is repetitive and needs a lot more editing. In addition, the author’s quest for alternatives to the pill – both technical and philosophical – leads her into feminist fringe territory which is sometimes cringe-inducing. And she fails to see the logical consequences of some of her insights. Nevertheless, in her attempt at a comprehensive critique of the pill and allied contraceptives she gets some important things right...

Sweetening the Pill falls far short of the critique of contraceptive culture some of us would like to hear from a smart and angry young woman. The author does not see that the copper IUD, the condom and the rest of contraceptive paraphernalia – not to mention abortion – are also an insult to the body, if not to its chemistry then at least to its integrity in the sexual act. Breaking away from the medical establishment’s grip is hardly a liberation if you fall straight into the arms of condom and cap manufacturers.

However, Holly Grigg-Spall’s great discovery – the ability to track her menstrual cycle through the fertility awareness method (FAM, or NFP to those who know it as natural family planning) – may yet lead her to new philosophical insights as well. She has already picked up on the way this method can improve the relationship between spouses or partners. For the moment she is anxious to dissociate herself from the philosophy of “the religious Right” and seems to think it is a shame that Catholics perfected the method before feminists tumbled to it.

But, if her book did nothing else than encourage other young women to pursue body literacy and fertility awareness, it would have performed a signal service.

Wedding Night Elation? Not for 1/2 of Newlyweds.

It’s rather sad news to hear but according to new research, more than half of newlywed couples do not end up consummating their marriage on their wedding night. Top reasons for this include the groom or bride being too drunk, the couple being too tired, or the fact that the happy couple had argued during the reception…

Apart from this study though, a few more reasons come to mind to explain the lack of consummation. The most obvious would be that most couples have slept together long before they even think about marriage. Hence, the wedding night ends up being just another ordinary night.

The other reason would be the fact that weddings are so much more stressful than they used to be. Back in the day, it was a celebration of love, and a new beginning. These days, it’s a lot more about the dress and the cake and the table settings and the DJ and how your wedding compares to that of others. After a whole nerve-racking day of wondering whether everyone is enjoying what you’ve spent months (or years) meticulously planning, no wonder it would be tough to stay awake after the reception is done and dusted!...

("Bored with their bliss," Tamara Rajakariar at Mercator)

Planned Parenthood: A Quick Peek Inside

It's basic stuff yet your friends, family and co-workers may not know it. The clip below is clever, clear and memorable. Save it. Share it.

Here's 9 Things About Planned Parenthood Everyone Should Know

Joe Carter over at the Gospel Coalition notes "9 Things You Should Know About Planned Parenthood."

1. Planned Parenthood Federation of America has 95 affiliates and 865 health centers, according to its latest annual report, which covers the 2008-09 fiscal year. They require that at least one clinic per affiliate must perform abortions. PP performs over 320,000 abortions a year. [That's surgical abortions alone. The number of preborn kids killed through PP chemicals is incalculable.]

2. The motto for this year's PP gala is "Our past is our prologue." Part of the past the organization will be celebrating includes its founding by the notorious racist and eugenicist Margaret Sanger. Sanger wanted to control the reproduction of immigrants, the poor, certain religious groups, and anyone else she thought was from an "unacceptable" heritage. Sanger referred to such people as reckless breeders who were "unceasingly spawning a class of human beings who never should have been born at all..." 

In 1939 Sanger started the "Negro Project" and attempted to get Christian ministers to aid her effort. As she wrote in a letter to a fellow eugenicist, "we do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members."

3. Last year PP reported excess revenue of $87.4 million and $1.2 billion in total assets. Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood's CEO, makes nearly $400,000 a year. [She actually makes over $500,000.)

4. The amount of taxpayer money PP got in 2012 ($542,000,000) equates to $61,836 an hour, 24 hours a day for 365 days.

5. PP has repeatedly and consistently turned a blind eye to reports of statutory rape.

6. PP strongly opposes sex education that focuses on abstinence and has gone so far as to file lawsuits against school districts that have decided to implement abstinence-only programs. The organization claims to offer "value-neutral" sex education. (As an example, on their website aimed at teenagers, they include an article ("All About the Anus") which teaches kids that, "Some straight couples use anal sex as a way to preserve the woman's virginity.")

7. Last month a Planned Parenthood of Florida lobbyist, testifying against Florida's Born Alive Infants Protection Act, told lawmakers that if a baby survives an abortion, it is debatable whether that baby should live or die.

8. Some Planned Parenthood clinics have demonstrated a willingness to partner with pimps and sex traffickers to exploit young women instead of safeguarding their health and safety.

9. While in the Illinois state senate, Obama worked with PP to determine how he should vote on a partial-birth abortion legislation. With Planned Parenthood's blessing, he voted "present" to protect his "100 percent" record on pro-abortion votes.

The Evolution of College Education: Case 147 (Sex Week at UT)

Should a public university be sponsoring a Sex Week? You know, a public university of the type that prohibits open expressions of Christianity by faculty and denies funds for Christian speakers, events or student clubs? 

And should said university use taxpayer dollars to finance this Sex Week?

Wait a sec. Before you answer these questions, make sure you understand what Sex Week is. You may remember similar shenanigans mentioned in a Vital Signs Blog post earlier this month (The Loathsome Lows of "Higher" Education), but the University of Tennessee lays out its Sex Week like this -- 30 fun and inspiring events that include “Getting Laid,” “Sex Positivity; Queer as a Verb,” “Loud and Queer,” “How Many Licks Does it Take?,” a poetry-reading lesbian bondage expert, and a campus-wide scavenger hunt for a golden condom.

Now to officials at the University of Tennessee, this is all proper education and they gave organizers $20,000 to pull it off. Well, that is, until state lawmakers started screaming. Then the university cancelled the event, made profuse apologies, fired the persons involved, and created firm policies to keep such immoral foolishness from ever happening again.

I'm kidding, of course.

What the university actually did was to insist that all of the activities planned for Sex Week were just fine and dandy. Because of the publicity, they did admit that perhaps some of them were "not an appropriate use of state tax dollars” but even those remain on the schedule.

Still, to try and soothe the ruffled feathers of an outraged state senators (not to mention parents and UT students who didn't know that their mandatory student fees would be used to fund such things), the officials are now giving Sex Week only a bit under $7,000 and encouraging them to find alternative funding for the rest.

Reactions to Sex Week? Here's a few comments from State Senator Stacey Campfield:

"We should be teaching these children what is important to learn so they can get jobs. I don’t know what jobs they plan on getting if they’re having seminars on oral sex and bondage. I don’t see how that will help someone in their professional career – unless they plan on becoming a porn star.”

“They’ve been trying to say it’s about safety and birth control. These kids are supposed to be some of the smartest kids out there – and they don’t know where to buy condoms? If they can’t figure out where to buy condoms, I question whether they need to be in college in the first place – if they’re that stupid.”

“The university always cries poor-mouth, that they don’t have any money and yet they seem to have plenty of money to do this kind of stuff. We’re going to try and hold their budget until it gets squared away.”

“They say it’s all about diversity. Well, perversity does not make diversity just because it’s at the university.”

Here's more of the story.

Thank You for Choosing Life

After a cold day that started in front of an abortion clinic, I was moved to watch again this classic song by Kenny Chesney...and to thank all the Moms and Dads who made the choice for life even when facing difficulties, fears and pressure.

In making the loving, holy choice to protect your child, you prompted the applause of heaven. Way to go.

"Comprehensive" Sex Ed Planned for Nebraska

The Nebraska Family Council (along with the other pro-life, pro-family groups in Nebraska) are urging citizens to contact the State Senators on the Education Committee and urge them to vote against LB 619, a  bill that would force every public school district in the state to teach the kind of "comprehensive" sex education that delights Planned Parenthood.

You must act soon because the hearing date on this bill is March 12th.

As the NFC points out, LB 619 would require all public schools to add information to their curriculum "on how to use every type of contraceptive method approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This would include the morning after pill which causes early abortions."

Furthermore, the instruction material "cannot be biased against any sexual orientation or gender identity.  Students will be taught that any type of sexual activity is appropriate, such as homosexuality and cross-dressing. Students will be taught how to have healthy heterosexual, homosexual and gender identity sexual relationships."

You see why your action is urgent. Contact the Education Committee members and ask them to vote against LB 619.

Kate Sullivan (Chair) -- ksullivan@leg.ne.gov
Jim Scheer (Vice Chair) -- jscheer@leg.ne.gov
Bill Avery -- bavery@leg.ne.gov
Tanya Cook -- tcook@leg.ne.gov
Al Davis -- adavis@leg.ne.gov
Ken Haar (who introduced the bill) -- khaar@leg.ne.gov
Rick Kolowski -- rkolowski@leg.ne.gov
Les Seiler -- lseiler@leg.ne.gov

If you had rather use the phone, the numbers can be found at this NFC article.

"I Didn't Give My Baby Up; I Gave My Baby Parents."

Here, in diary form, is a remarkably honest, poignant and inspiring story of one woman's adoption decision.

It was published, by the way, in The Daily Iowan, the highly-praised daily student newspaper of the University of Iowa which has a circulation around the area of nearly 20,000.

Don't miss it.

Love Hurts: STD Epidemic Continues to Escalate

Memo to post-modern culture: Maybe the Bible's teachings about modesty, self-control, sexual activity being a pleasurable and fruitful experience for married heterosexual couples, marital fidelity, and so on weren't so stuffy, irrelevant and out-dated after all.

Here's the latest report from the Daily Mail:

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control released data Wednesday revealing that 20 million new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are diagnosed each year nationwide, costing some $16 billion in taxpayer funds.

Half of the 20 million new infections affect people ages 15 to 24 - who only make up a quarter of the population,l according to the statistics.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) tops the list as the most common infection followed by chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes, hepatitis B, HIV and trichomoniasis…

STIs take a big health and economic toll on men and women in the United States, especially our youth,' CDC epidemiologist Catherine Lindsay told NBC News.

Much of the $16 billion in annual healthcare costs that go to STI's is spent on patients with HIV/AIDS, who require lifetime care.

But less serious infections aren't always less expensive.

Diseases like Chlamydia can lead to complications, especially if they are not treated, which can end up costing patients thousands of dollars out of pocket.

Colleges Now Teaching Sex Techniques (Because Pop Culture So Carefully Avoids the Subject!)

"I heart female orgasm" is a public event taking place at the University of Minnesota to teach young women and girls enrolled in the school how to achieve and improve their orgasms. Yes, you heard me right. "Sex Week" at Yale and now this. There is only one way to combat this insanity. Minnesota parents need to threaten to withhold their tuition payments until this ceases.

Do college students really need this class? Women have been having orgasms since time immemorial and learned it all on their own without the aid of university classes. If someone has problems in this arena, this very personal matter should be discussed in private with a doctor or therapist. Sex should be a private concern but we are trivializing it with programs like this at the same time we are making it too pressing of an issue in our already sex-obsessed culture.

Today's pop culture and university system are working hard turning sex into an open and public endeavor. The messaging to young people is that it is nothing special, it does not require intimacy, it's for sport and entertainment, it's something you just have to do like going to the bathroom or blowing your nose, and whoever you can do it with when you need to do it, is just fine.

The overriding message is this is an animal urge and follow your instincts at all times. The need for control and restraint is passé.

Well, we aren't just animals. We do possess free will and discipline and that is, after all, what distinguishes us from our animal pals. Is there a course on this at college?

Read more of Sally Zelikovsky's "Whatever Happened to Private Sex?" over at the American Thinker.

A Few Thoughts on the Day's News

* "Free condoms to be dispensed by Philadelphia high schools"

Let's add it up. Abysmal academic performance, major safety concerns, bullying, negative peer pressure, the constant marginalization (if not all out mockery) of traditional religious values, training in promiscuity, and so on. This is what we're paying oodles of money for? And this is where we willingly dump our kids? Sigh.

* "Grim milestone: The 500th homicide in Chicago"

Do you wonder why the mainstream media is AWOL on this horror story? Could it be because Chicago is one of the most Democrat-dominated cities in the country? Or is it because it presents the utter failure of the welfare state, especially in how Nanny State programs have destroyed the family and banished the civilizing effects of religion?

* Regarding voter fraud...



Tip of the iceberg? Of course. So why won't the G.O.P. get serious about protecting democracy? We desperately need voter I.D. laws, fair and effective voting machines, non-partisan oversight, harsh penalties for vote fraud crooks -- and tough enforcement of all of these.

* "Halloween decorations carry haunting message of forced labor in China"

If the West truly had a free press (let alone a press concerned about justice, truth and compassion), this story would be dominating the headlines, airwaves and TV networks.

* "Krauthammer slams Obama for ‘illegal and unconstitutional’ regulatory overreach"



The "regulatory cliff" is as dangerous to democracy as the "fiscal cliff" is to the nation's economy. The Obama administration has been strikingly egregious in making new law -- not by the Constitutional process of working with Congress and the people, but merely by autocratic decree. Freedom is being tortured and will eventually be killed not by bombs but by a thousand paper cuts administered by heartless government-union clerks.

A Progressive Priority: Abortifacient Drugs for Young Girls

Have you heard about the holiday gift some people think American girls should be getting this year? “Emergency contraception.”

...During Thanksgiving week the American Academy of Pediatrics announced its recommendation that “morning after” prescriptions be issued to adolescent girls as a matter of course, allowing them the false security of what has long been described by advocates as a “fire extinguisher” in their purse to counter at least some of the consequences of risky behavior.

“There’s no good reason” why there should not be follow-through on the recommendation, the San Francisco Chronicle asserts. No good reason? Good and plenty, as it happens.

This approach, besides being deeply insulting to the human dignity of adolescents, exposes the reality that when we talk about sex these days, we all too often put good health and good sense aside, despite the rhetoric about “women’s health.”…

“Taking Plan B in the hopes that no one will find out will lead to girls’ suffering and struggling on their own, long past the time when medical care is indicated,” says Anna Halpine, founder of the World Youth Alliance and CEO of the FEMM (Fertility Education and Medical Management) Foundation. “You need a prescription for Plan B because it includes high levels of hormones that can lad to serious side effects, particularly in certain populations. Girls on Plan B also need to know that if something goes wrong, their parents and medical providers need to be there to support them, and if necessary to intervene with care.”

In some New York City public schools, though, an experimental program has already declared girls’ independence from their parents: It dispenses emergency contraception without parental consent. This, despite the biological dangers of introducing hormones into a teenage girl’s body. This, even though a minor cannot give informed consent — a concern that the faux freedom advocates seem to sidestep all too casually.

“Further, counseling regarding sexual activity needs to be provided, and this should not be taken lightly,” Halpine insists. “Girls are 50 percent more likely to contract infections and sexually transmitted diseases than boys because of immature and underdeveloped cervixes, and they and their parents need to have this information.”

“Girls often need support in order to avoid coercive early sexual activity, and the support of parents and medical providers is critical to enabling them to make healthy decisions,” Halpine observes. “Girls want to be loved, not just used, and being affirmed in their pursuit of education and long-term dreams is a necessary part of the empowerment of any girl. Happiness is not an illusion; there are concrete things that can be done to achieve it, and explaining that to our girls is our responsibility and obligation. As the hookup culture grows ever more pervasive, it is matched by rising rates of female depression. We need to take these indicators of our young women’s development seriously, and make sure that we provide them with clear messages that help them fulfill their potential and achieve their dreams.”

Step away from the policy statement and take a look around. What Halpine says should be common sense. Acting on it should be a prerequisite for anyone who claims to be an advocate for women and girls…

Read the rest of "Care for a Plan B?: A few steps short of the end of innocence" by Kathryn Jean Lopez over at National Review.