The federal government posted a website emphasizing abstinence for parents talking to their children about sex, and a battery of interest groups want 4parents.gov taken down, accusing the government of posting biased and inaccurate information and advice on the subject.
"There's this misconception that giving young people negative information about contraception will encourage them not to have sexual intercourse, when all it will do is encourage them not to have contraception, so the strategy backfires," said Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States official Monica Rodriguez March 31.
SIECUS, in fact, send a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, of which the American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign, and Planned Parenthood also signed, expressing the concerns Rodriguez described.
Leavitt said in his own statement at the site’s premiere a week earlier that it was aimed at parents who might be embarrassed talking with their children about sexuality. "Parents have a tremendous amount of influence on their children,” he said in that statement, “and we want them to talk with their teens about abstinence so that they can stay safe and healthy."
Other HHS officials were quoted as saying they weren’t surprised that some groups disapproved of 4parents.gov, one saying those groups “always opposed us” on abstinence, while he emphasized that one fact is known about abstinence: Its practice will prevent unintended pregnancy or infection by sexually transmitted diseases.
The Human Rights Campaign objected to sections of the site talking about sexual orientation, particularly a portion that urged parents of gay adolescents to see family therapists “who share your values to clarify and work through these issues.” The HRC said that calling sexual orientation “an alternative lifestyle,” as the site does, is outdated and alienating to particularly vulnerable youth.
"By terming sexual orientation a 'lifestyle,’” said HRC president Joe Solomonese, in a separate letter to Leavitt, “HHS is discussing it as a matter of choice, which is contrary to the vast majority of scientific evidence. Sexual orientation is not a lifestyle.”
But Heritage Foundation research fellow Patrick Fagan told reporters 4parents.gov was useful for parents of gay adolescents, adding that those parents should have the same information available to parents of heterosexual kids. “"Teenagers involved in homosexual acts ... are worth the same transmission of information on the effectiveness of condoms and on the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases," Fagan was quoted as saying.
Among other things, 4parents.gov calls condoms imperfect, saying they’re breakable and easy to use incorrectly.
