Conference on STDs gets bullied into abstinence-only hell

Because politics are clearly more important than people’s health.

The 2006 National STD Prevention Conference, which is government-sponsored, has been changed up (screwed up) after an abstinence-only-loving congressman made a stink.

An aide to Rep. Mark Edward Souder (R-Ind.), sent an e-mail April 26 to the Department of Health and Human Services raising questions about a panel titled "Are Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs a Threat to Public Health?"

"Just the title alone was enough to cause us concern," said Martin Green, Souder's spokesman. But the congressman also was alarmed because one of the speakers was focusing on a report produced by the office of Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) that was critical of abstinence programs, and because no one would be speaking in support of such programs.

Right. Because no one who cares about public health would support these programs.

In response to Souder’s objections the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the main conference organizer, changed the name of the panel to “Public Health Strategies of Abstinence Programs for Youth” and removed the panelist set to discuss the Waxman report. Take a wild guess who replaced the original speaker. Not one, but two abstinence-only panelists: Eric Walsh of Loma Linda University in California and Patricia Sulak of Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Texas, founder Worth the Wait.

Green said that the change took “basically a propaganda panel” and made it into “a more accurate reflection of the scientific opinion.” Right.

By the way, here are some of Worth the Wait’s very “scientific” recommendations on how to not get an STD: Go shopping at the mall with your friends; have an 80's movie marathon; make a scrapbook; make a quilt out of your old T-shirts and blankets; play catch with water balloons in the yard or have a water balloon fight.

Who needs condoms when you have arts and crafts?