Sex Education

Associated Press

June 24, 2008

By KEVIN FREKING 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Skeptical states are shoving aside millions of federal dollars for abstinence education, walking away from the program the Bush administration touts for slowing teen sexual activity. Barely half the states are still in, and two more say they are leaving.

Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel 

June 27, 2008

ISSUE: More states rejecting abstinence grants.

It is no great surprise that states are having doubts about the effectiveness of federal abstinence education programs.

Barbara A. Zdravecky, President of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida,
Guest Columnist, Tampa Tribune, March 26, 2008; Bradenton Herald, March 17, 2008;
The shocking news from the Centers for Disease Control that one in four teenage girls in the United States has a sexually transmitted infection (STI) emphasizes the critical need for real comprehensive sex education in schools in Florida and in this country.

The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE - Causing the death of a fetus could lead to a murder charge, no matter how early the pregnancy is, under a bill that moved through its first House committee Wednesday.

Opponents called the bill an attempt to change the law on when life begins, by giving rights to all fetuses, and ultimately to infringe on a woman's right to have an abortion.

Carmen Paige, Pensacola News Journal
March 13, 2008
Local public health officials aren't surprised by a recent national study which found that at least one in four teenage American girls has a sexually transmitted disease.

But they do hope the study, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week, inspires parents and teens to communicate about sex to avoid potentially life-threatening diseases.

Jennifer Booth Reed, News-Press.com,
March 12, 2008
One quarter of American teenage girls has at least one of four common sexually transmitted diseases, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released Tuesday.

Researchers looked at the rates of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, chlamydia, herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection and trichomoniasis in a first-of-its-kind study of STD prevalence among 14- to 19-year-olds.

March 11, 2008
CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- At least one in four teenage girls nationwide has a sexually transmitted disease, or more than 3 million teens, according to the first study of its kind in this age group.

Laura Sessions Stepp, Washington Post
Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Teenage romance can be a good thing and so can dating, a large study of youth in grades 7 through 12 has concluded.

An analysis of national data conducted by Child Trends, a research center that focuses on children and youth, found that sexually active teens who identify their relationships with a partner as romantic and who go out socially with that person are more likely to use contraceptives than similar teens in more-casual relationships.

Donna Wright, Bradenton Herald
March 4, 2008

Planned Parenthood of Southwest Florida announced Monday that its first health clinic in Manatee County will be located in Oneco.

"The lease has been signed," said Barbara Zdravecky, chief executive officer and president of the Planned Parenthood Southwest and Central Florida. "It has been my goal to help reduce the high teen pregnancy rate and high teen, repeat-birth rates in Manatee County ever since I joined Planned Parenthood 14 years ago."