Courteney Stuart broke the story in last week’s Hook that the Pregnancy Center has received $645,000 in federal funding to teach Christian-premised, abstinence-only sex education in local schools. The small organization should be thrilled with the substantial allotment, but has attempted to keep things quiet, treating Stuart with a suspicion when she called to inquire. They intend to teach the “Why kNOw” curriculum, which is a scare-based program that teaches that sex outside of marriage will ruin your life and that homosexuals should remain forever abstinent.
The Pregnancy Center was the subject of an alarming investigative article by The Cavalier Daily‘s Leah Nylen, in which it was revealed that the group provides information to women that is demonstrably false and damagingly so, including that the birth control pill can cause cervical cancer, breast cancer, increased risk of AIDS, and infertility; that emergency contraception causes an abortion, rather than preventing conception; and that abortifacient RU-486 causes heart attacks, birth defects, and infertility. The organization is fundamentally opposed to contraceptives. Worst of all, studies show that this approach to sex ed results in kids having sex without condoms, has no impact on STD rates, and doesn’t actually stop kids from having sex.
The Pregnancy Center has broken their press silence and conducted an interview with Bob Gibson for today’s Daily Progress, in which their executive director states that their goal is to get their program into city schools. In order to do so, they’ll have to be placed on a list of approved speakers by the school board. Won’t that be an adventure?
It wasn’t that long ago that I took the required “family life” classes at WAHS. Trying to teach an abstinence-only course to my class would have gotten the teacher heckled out of the classroom. I can’t imagine it’d go much better this time around.
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