Contraceptives:
Access for minors without parents' consent

	Guest commentary  Patrick Delaney

In what pro-lifers have called "a mocking of the true meaning of human love," Wisconsin's Family Planning Health Services, Inc. (FPHS) celebrated the grand opening of a drive-up window for artificial contraceptives in Wausau on St. Valentine's Day.

The new drive-up window, located at 719 N. Third Ave., allows FPHS clients to re-fill their artificial birth control supplies and gives new customers access to non-prescription contraceptive chemicals and devices.

Access for minors

According to Pro-Life Wisconsin (PLW), Wisconsin is now "able to boast of being one of only three states with (abortion-causing) pills and patches available for fast and easy pick up."

Compounding the controversy, PLW points out that these contraceptives are largely paid for by taxpayers and offered free of charge, without parental notification or consent, to virtually every girl aged 15 to 17 in the state.

FPHS is one organization among several - including Planned Parenthood - that obtains significant revenue through the federal Medicaid Family Planning Waiver Project (FPWP). The program provides free "family planning" services to women aged 15 to 44 if their income is below 185 percent of the federal poverty level. In calculating the income of a minor, the program does not consider parental income, making virtually every minor girl eligible.

Federal law also makes it a crime for agencies administering this program to inform parents of their children's activities. As of last December the program was serving about 55,000 women statewide, nearly half of whom were teens.

According to FPHS Executive Director Lon Newman, the state's participation in FPWP has significantly increased the income of his organization.

Serious risks

While government programs such as FPWP encourage the use and distribution of contraceptives - even to minors - evidence of significant health risks associated with them continues to mount. In addition to being able to bring about the death of an embryonic child, these drugs can cause serious health complications and even death to women who use them.

La Crosse resident Alycia Brown, a Logan Middle School eighth grader who died in May 2004, is one example. Brown died suddenly of blood clots in her lower pelvis as a result of using the popular contraceptive-abortifacient patch for about six weeks. Brown's parents are now suing patch manufacturer Ortho-McNeil for withholding information from their own clinical trials which suggested increased risks.

A 2004 study of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revealed 21 "life-threatening" conditions related to the birth-control patch such as blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks. According to the FDA, the patch has been responsible for at least 17 deaths in women aged 17 to 30 since 2002.

Last November, Ortho-McNeil agreed to improve the warnings on the product labels to include information that their product has possible fatal side effects.

According to Pro-Life Wisconsin, Brown's death illustrates problems with contraception that go way beyond the deadly nature of one particular device.

"Not only are these drugs often lethal for a developing embryo," said PLW state director Peggy Hamill, "but they are also sometimes lethal for the women and girls who take them. This was truly a horrific situation. A beautiful teenage girl with a bright future is dead. Even worse, because of Wisconsin's taxpayer-funded birth control programs, a situation like this could easily happen again."

Legislative remedy

The very day FPHS was celebrating the opening of their new drive-thru, legislators in Madison were attending a hearing on a bill aimed at raising the eligibility age for the FPWP from 15 to 18.

Seeking to remedy what they identified as a clear violation of parental rights, Wisconsin State Senator Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) and State Rep. Mark Gundrum (R-New Berlin) introduced companion legislation (SB 552/AB 991) to modify the program.

When the legislation was announced in January, Senator Grothman remarked, "To continue this program that sends the message that early promiscuity is expected is appalling. To send the message without parents being informed is almost beyond belief."

Favorable testimony

At a joint public hearing hosted by the Senate Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules and the Assembly Committee on Family Law, several experts testified to the harmful consequences of the program.

Kathy Markeland, associate director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, emphasized the fundamental role parents have as the first teachers of their children in forming them to be moral, responsible citizens.

"Our society depends upon parents to play this role and government should organize itself in such a way that it supports parents in their efforts," she said. She argued that "the FPWP undermines the parent-child relationship and devalues abstinence until marriage."

PLW Legislative Affairs Director Matt Sande cited a recent Zogby poll revealing that 70 percent of parents either strongly disapprove or disapprove of their child being able to obtain contraception without their knowledge or approval.

Several medical doctors also testified that early sexual intercourse comes with serious health repercussions and should not be encouraged by the government. Almost one in four sexually active teens has a sexually transmitted disease, and one in three high-school girls has human papilloma virus (HPV) which causes 99.7 percent of cervical cancer cases.

Pathologist Dr. Michael Phillips, M.D. of Oconomowoc, confirmed that girls who become sexually active prior to the age of 16 have a six-fold increase in their chances of getting cervical cancer.

Abortion as backup

In addition, studies indicate that broad availability of contraceptives increases underage pregnancy and demand for abortion.

A 2002 British study published in the Journal of Health Economics investigated the impact of "family planning" on teenage conceptions and abortions over a 14-year period. It concluded that "the overall effect of expanding family planning services for under-16s has been to increase pregnancies and abortion."

Legislation tabled

SB 552 was recommended for adoption by the Senate committee on a 3 to 2 vote. The full Senate took up the measure on March 7, and it was narrowly tabled (set aside) on a 17 to 16 vote. Three Republican senators - Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), Luther Olsen (R-Berlin), and Ron Brown (R-Eau Claire) - joined all 14 Democrats in tabling the bill.

On March 21, the Assembly companion legislation was voted out of committee, recommended for passage, and now currently resides in the Joint Committee on Finance. Though the bill has enjoyed support in the past, Assembly Republicans have not yet decided whether or not they will bring it to a vote this session.

Patrick Delaney is a theology and history instructor at St. Ambrose Academy in Madison and a former assistant director of public policy for American Life League of Stafford, Va.

Parents' role:
Developing sexual maturity in children

		A Culture  of Life  Fr. Eric Nielsen

One of the fallouts of the sexual revolution has been the integration of boys' and girls' education and the resulting loss of the particular training that each gender needs in order to reach proper maturity. This is especially true in regards to their sexual maturity.

To be sexually mature is to be aware and unashamed of one's sexual desires, comfortably in control of them, and committed to their proper integration. JohnPaul II called this quality the virtue of self-mastery. In this life we either learn to master our desires according to reason and thus foster freedom and happiness; or they master us, and we become their miserable slaves.

Resisting temptation

At an early age boys begin to experience temptations against chastity. Should they lose the ability to resist such temptations, they will also lose the ability to develop a meaningful, open, and loving relationship with their future spouse.

In a similar way young girls are generally tempted to immodest use of their bodies as a means to attract the attention of boys. Not only do such means attract the wrong type of attention, they can also completely prevent such young women from attracting the authentic caring and respectful attention their hearts truly desire.

Now these realities should be common sense to just about any adult, but unfortunately we no longer live in a commonsense world. If parents do not recognize the difficulties to acquiring sexual maturity, and assist their children in overcoming these difficulties, they are seriously jeopardizing their children's potential for happiness and eternal salvation.

Children need parents

A boy needs to develop an open and supportive relationship with his father and be taught by him to respect and love his mother. Dad needs to keep an open mind to his son's interests and encourage him wherever his talents lie so that he gets a natural sense of accomplishment and joy in the world around him.

A father's love is just as important for a girl. A girl who feels loved and accepted by her father will not seek inappropriate attention from a boyfriend. A father should keep his criticism to a minimum and never feel that his daughter is too old for his warm embrace.

Images from television, computer games, and movies have a deep impact on the imagination and formation of young minds. It is not puritanical to turn one's eyes from any scene that is designed to arouse sexual desire. A parent's confident and measured explanation of why something is inappropriate or sinful will usually leave a profound impression on a child, especially when such explanations are given in the context of God's loving plan and His desire for our happiness.

Prayer and sacraments

The best tool for fostering chastity, and all the virtues, is prayer and the sacraments. Jesus demands absolute chastity from us because he has given us, from His sacrifice on the cross, the grace to master our desires and discover the joy of true freedom and love. Daily prayer, weekly Mass, and monthly confession will be a child's greatest asset in resisting the temptations which serve to destroy his or her peace and potential for true love.

There is no reason to be anxious. Those parents who have developed their own relationship with Christ and are concretely following the precepts of marital chastity will have the wisdom and natural means to foster and encourage the development of sexual maturity in their children.

Fr. Eric Nielsen is pastor of St. Mary Help of Christians Parish, Sullivan, and St. Mary Parish, Palmyra. This column is syndicated by www.OneMoreSoul.com