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US and Vatican 'undermining fight to improve sexual health'

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Published Date: 01 November 2006
RIGHT-WING religious groups and political forces in the US and the Vatican are undermining attempts to improve sexual and reproductive health around the world, an Edinburgh professor claimed today.
Experts investigating problems of sexually transmitted disease, birth control and abortion claim that progress is being hampered by conservative moral crusaders.

Professor Anna Glasier, from Edinburgh University, one of the authors of a new report published online by The Lancet medical journal, said: "The bold fact is that the US has such a huge influence around the world. When it does something, it has a big impact.

"The problem is not so much that conservative forces are growing, but that the countries that have become more conservative are those with huge influence."

The Vatican had also plays a major part in holding back progress, she said.

Her report points out that more than 120 million couples have an unmet need for contraception, 80 million women have unintended pregnancies, and an estimated 19 million women undergo unsafe abortions leading to 70,000 deaths.



The full article contains 204 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 01 November 2006 11:00 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Sex education
 
1

Fraser,

01/11/2006 14:46:53

America is a fundamentalist Christian state, so no surprise it is spreading it's evil and killing more people than Al Qaeda could over hope to.

2

bikerider1,

reality 01/11/2006 14:49:44

dont sit on the fence there fraser come out and say what you think......even if it is rubbish

3

Fraser,

01/11/2006 15:40:18

I get it all from the Guardian. Not sure you'd understand it though.

4

inter alia,

the capital 01/11/2006 17:08:57

[#1, #3] easy tiger.

5

God of all Wisdom,

Edinburgh 01/11/2006 18:17:23

Sadly it's true. The facts speak loud and clear. Places that try to repress sexuality, such as the fundamentalist Christian areas, have enormously high rates of teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, sex crime, and every other nagative indicator. Places with full and frank attitudes that reach children at an early age (e.g. Holland) have far more positive rates. The lesson is that promoting ignorance (usually called "protecting" children) is a form of abuse. The abusers (usually called politicians, ministers, or other pillars of the community) should be held to account for their hypocrisy. So called Christian morality is usually immoral in its outcomes, and we should not tolerate attempts by its advocates to take the moral high ground. They do too much harm already.

6

JG,

Fife 01/11/2006 19:37:17

It's all very well taking the moral high ground when you have the money to do it. Teaching poorer people at least the rudiments of sexual health would be a start. As always it's the women who bear the brunt of it all - the US banning abortions (as appears to be the intention of the Christian fundamentalists - and that includes the Vatican) will not actually stop them taking place, it will only mean these poor, desperate women will undergo an illegal procedure with all the risks that entails. How much easier to educate people, make condoms easily available and give them choices.

I watched "The Secret Policeman's Ball" on TV last night, and one of the comedians joked that he thought women should run the world. He said "Men have made a total mess of it, let them clean it up!" MAYBE HE HAS A POINT.

7

Territimmons,

01/11/2006 20:41:17

I can't help but think that unwanted teen pregnancy, high abortion rates, and the spread of STDs (especially among the young) are the legacy of the liberalization of society in the 1960s. Now, people realize that the genie is out of the bottle (by this, I mean society accepting sexual activity outside of marriage) and the only thing they can do is try to effectively teach people how to protect themselves from these inevitable nasties. However, by attacking conservatives they are in fact deflecting the blame from themselves. If people lived by conservative values (by this, I mean don't have sex unless you are responsible enough to deal with the problems that come with it) we would not be in the mess we are in now. Now, the proposed solution is more liberal attitudes. More abortions and more acceptance of sexual activity among irresponsible people, which will inevitably lead to more STDS and more unwanted pregnancies. Of course, when this happens, the blame will be put at the foot of the Pope and other easy targets.

This is a cycle that will never end until we are all dead from AIDS.

8

Doreen,

Glasgow 01/11/2006 23:39:34

Copulation is a past time pursued by many a human being, young, middle aged and old. It is a basic human instinct, driven by hormones. You will never stop it nor will you convince people to refrain from this activity as the fulfillment they get from it is just too strong. Bearing that in mind and the fact that most young people are not mentally mature enough to contemplate their mortality, surely, logically, you get them to carry a condom?


 

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