Unhealthy advice in Planned Parenthood’s “Happy, Healthy, and Hot”
[Today’s guest post by Chris Rostenberg is part of our paid blogging program.]
If someone with the AIDS virus was about to have sex with you, should they have to tell you about their HIV-positive status first? Planned Parenthood doesn’t think so. In a brochure entitled Happy, Healthy, and Hot, which Planned Parenthood describes as a “guide for young people living with HIV to help them understand their sexual rights, and live healthy, fun, happy and sexually fulfilling lives,” the giant of the abortion advocacy world proclaims:
You have the right to decide if, when, and how to disclose your HIV status…
You know best if and when it is safe to disclose your [HIV] status…
There is no right or wrong way to have sex. Just have fun, explore and be yourself!…
It is not always possible to talk about to your partner(s) or to practice safer sex…
There is no if, and there is no question of when. The only appropriate time to disclose one’s HIV status is before having sex with your partner. That is the “right way.” An organization that really cared about sexual health would not need me to explain this.
I’m hardly the first to write about this problem with Happy, Healthy, and Hot. It got a fair amount of coverage when the brochure first came to light in 2010. But if you read the whole thing, it turns out that there’s enough baffling propaganda for several articles.
For example:
Some people have sex after they have been drinking alcohol or using drugs. This is your choice.
That’s alarming, especially given that Healthy, Happy and Hot is directed to young people who may not be of drinking age. Also, illicit drug use is a major factor in the spread of AIDS. And, above all, people who are drunk or high are in no position to consent to sexual activity.
If you want to have sex and think you might get drunk or high, plan ahead by bringing condoms and lube or putting them close to where you usually have sex. That way you won’t forget them in the heat of the moment.
Apparently Planned Parenthood does have some concept of consent…
Your partner must be able to freely consent to sexual activity. It is not okay to have sex with someone who is so drunk or high that they are staggering, incoherent or have passed out.
…but it needs to reevaluate its standards. (Also, “not okay” wins the understatement of the day award.)
Then there are statements so bizarre as to be unintentionally funny. “Sex is often a social activity.” “Do you know about the clitoris and prostate?” Uh, all right.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Planned Parenthood brochure without a plug for its most important “service”:
Your local family planning clinic can help you create a plan—whether it is for having children safely, terminating or preventing unplanned pregnancies, or figuring out how to start a family if you are single or in a same-sex relationship.
That’s a little puzzling at first—what is abortion doing in a brochure about maintaining your health as an HIV-positive person?—but it starts to make sense when you look at the long-term history of Planned Parenthood. For decades, Planned Parenthood has had a tendency to treat pregnancy as a type of sexually transmitted disease. Planned Parenthood board member Dr. James Irwin stated: “In a girl under 18, we consider pregnancy a disease.” This sentiment has been so prevalent in some circles that the prestigious textbook Williams Obstetrics states: “[F]or some women, pregnancy is a venereal disease.” At a meeting of Planned Parenthood physicians back in 1973, Dr. Willard Cates presented a paper entitled “Abortion as a Treatment for Unwanted Pregnancy: the Number Two Sexually Transmitted Disease.” (Gonorrhea was considered the number one STD.) Cates wrote that abortion is “ten times more effective for treating unplanned pregnancy than is penicillin for treating gonorrhea.”
We, the American taxpaying public, fund Planned Parenthood’s outrageous agenda to the tune of a million dollars a day.
Planned Parenthood: biggest provider of over 50 million killed since 1973. Now how could they keep up their profits from these murders if they didn't push sex, sex, sex with whomever whenever? "Underage and pregnant? No problem! Victim of incest? No problem! Sex trafficked? No problem! HIV positive and don't want to tell your partner? No problem! We'll just keep it our dirty little secret." I see what you're doing there, PP.
I'm a polyamorous person, so I'd like to think I come down pretty hard on the sex-positive side of the spectrum. But I define sex-positivity as a sexual ethic that's based on consent, rather than other standards such as whether one is married or not.
"Do what you want, regardless of whether you've obtained informed consent from all parties" really seems to be a thing with PP, doesn't it?
"Also, 'not okay' wins the understatement of the day award."
Seriously. It is not okay for my dog to steal food off the dinner table. It is morally wrong to give someone a dangerous disease without warning them of the risks prior to the activity.
I'm pretty sure the line at which it becomes "not okay" to have sex with a person comes long before they are staggering or incoherent. If their judgement is impaired, then they can't give meaningful consent.
"Also illicit drug use is a major factor in the spread of AIDS."
Plus it's illegal and potentially very harmful even if you don't contract a disease…Probably not something you should take such a casual attitude about, Planned Parenthood.
It's kind of a vicious circle, and they've backed them into a corner. Lax attitudes regarding sex leads to increased risk (and contraction) of STD's, so this forces them to act like the possibility of spreading STD's is really "no big deal," otherwise they'll have to come face to face with their ideology of lax attitudes regarding sex, but lax attitudes regarding sex leads to more unplanned pregnancies, which leads to more abortions, which leads to more money for Planned Parenthood, another reason to keep up this lax attitude regarding sex, which leads to increased risk (and contraction) of STD's.
None of the quotes in your last paragraph show up anywhere else online. :/
Sorry but this is pure lying nonsense. IPPF is NOT Planned Parenthood.
I read the broacher and It did have a lot of good information. With any STD sex is normally the last thing that comes to mind. It's sad that many people feel that they have a right to sex as long as it isn't violent.
I got genital herpes when I was 18. I was faithful to my boyfriend. My doctor told to be calm while confronting him, because he may have not known that he had herpes or didn't know cold sores could transfer to that part of the body. So it seemed clear to me that she thought it would be wrong for either of us to withhold this kind of information. when I confronted him, he accused me of cheating and became even more abusive. I couldn't leave because it was the middle of winter, I had just became homeless, and was staying with him in a room he "rented' (I paid most of the rent for the room). The waiting lists everywhere were packed! as someone childless my wait would be about 3 months. I had to wait until he got kicked out (for beating me and using drugs) and then I begged to stay. It was very scary.
Once he left it was becoming easier to process. I decided that I wouldn't date for a while and to take sex of the table for the time being. I told a few girls I trusted. one said, 'that's sucks' and the other girl had it too. she was having sex all the time and told me that I could too, just tell people that I really trust and care about. I was shocked.
Soon after that there was an event called Project Homeless Connect to get homeless people medical care, a nice breakfast and lunch, hair cuts, dental and vision checks, STD testing, ect. The STD testing was put on by planned parenthood. I asked a few questions and I learned a few things that were good to know, like viral sheading. But I basically got told the same thing, except that I should never have sex during an outbreak because that person could find out I have herpes and hurt me. At that point I thought that I should never have sex, not only because knowingly spreading an std is wrong, but also because nobody else cared. I wasn't going to be that stereo type.
I was crushed, but I decided that I wasn't ever going to date for fun again. This time was the last time. I was dating only to find love. Not sex. Not convenience. Not to feel wanted. That part of my life was dead.
I started dating an acquaintance of mine. I told him on the second date. I was really nervous, but I needed him to know. and you know what, HE DIDNT CARE! I told him that if we ever were going to have sex it was going to be a huge commitment. we have been together for over 3 years and will be getting married soon. he loves me, and all of me. he tells me "I love your herpes"
If you know you have an untreatable std, letting potential partners know isn't normally that big of a deal. getting that std could even save you from an unhealthy relationship or lifestyle. and being open about it will help you find out who's really interested in you, and will weed out the ones who aren't worth your time. Getting an incurable std is something I would never wish on anyone. I wish I had reevaluated my life before herpes. but please please please don't be that asshole who gives it to someone just because you feel entitled to sex
International Planned Parenthood Federation
Can you not read – this is NOT Planned Parenthood.
More evil than Hitler.
"the International Planned Parenthood Federation, of which PPFA is a member, and UNFPA"
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/history-and-successes.htm
It is Planned Parenthood. We just drop Federation of America. According to planned parenthood, IPPF it the top management of all Planned parenthoods world wide. This is where their literature comes fro so they can print it in so many languages. Do your research.
Rubbish – IPPF does not "manage" Planned parenthood. You are as bad as the Right wing and their UN Agenda 21 nonsense.
WHAT is not Planned Parenthood? Please clarify–and give sources. Thanks.
IPPF is NOT Planned Parenthood. Source? Look at either website and do some research.
Your last paragraph is gobbledygook. If you are going to slander Planned Parenthood it might be nice if you could write in proper English. I belong to several organizations and associations but they don't MANAGE me.
Oh, I see.
I do not write proper English Because I was born with Brain damage, and a cyst right in the middle of it that they will never be able to removed. I wasn't expected to read chapter or text books, or do math beyond triple digits. For me to now be able to read and engage on a site like this Is a medical miracle. If you would like to continue the discussion, please do these things.
1) Ignore poor spelling and grammar if you can understand the point.
2) when bad spelling and grammar prevent you from understanding what the point is, ask for clarification.
3) If you have something to add, or see something that I've missed, please cite your source. ( It is hard to go off a few key words to try and find out what supports your point)
4) Please do not lash out when I misunderstand. different abled or not, misunderstanding someone's statement does not make them as bad as the right wing, or as bad as anything else.
I think that's about it.
What I understand now is that, PPFA founded IPPF with a few other organizations, They are two separate entities, They have different funding, and they have different policies.
http://www.ippfwhr.org/en/who-we-are/our-history/frequently-asked-questions
Seems silly. Its kind of like saying The man at the AT&T kiosk works for AT&T. The Man actually works for Connect. Connect has it's own policies and pay structure, and is a separate entity from AT&T. BUT they are still pushing the same products and services, they have the same logo and colors, and they represent identical values.
The separation can only be seen from the business stand point. Both AT&T and PPFA have created/affiliated with these clone looking organizations for strategic business reasons only. If PPFA wasn't in full support of this brochure, they would have it taken down and maybe cover it up.
You can be charge with reckless endangerment and a couple of other charges for infecting another person when you have HIV or AIDS.
I can understand the point of Planned Parenthood's statement. An HIV status can be humiliating and shameful, when it shouldn't be. However, they certainly messed up with this.
Chris, the quotes come from Professor William Brennan's "Abortion Holocaust."