Gonorrhea drug is becoming less effective, CDC says

Gonorrhea drug is becoming less effective, CDC says - The Washington Post: U.S. health officials are urging doctors to stop using a key antibiotic for routine cases of gonorrhea because of signs of bacterial resistance, leaving only one recommended treatment for one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the nation.

'via Blog this'

Just say no: Why abstinence is the better way to go

Just say no: Why abstinence is the better way to go | LifeSiteNews.com: Sexual Risk Avoidance (SRA), abstinence, truly lowers the rates of sexually transmitted infections and unintended teenage pregnancies as opposed to comprehensive sex education (CSE), which only focuses on reducing these risks.

Editor: Teaching young people to "just say no" is good in that it's like the parental instructions of Proverbs 1:8-9 -- "a graceful ornament on your head, and chains about your neck." But as experience has shown, young people -- especially Christians -- must also be encouraged to appropriate these lessons for themselves, maturing to the point (as described in Prov. 2:10) where "wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul." See also Why Unmarried Christians are Having Sex and Sex and Character. And, as though it needed to be said, Why Churches Shouldn't Push Contraceptives to Singles.

'via Blog this'

Abstinence Education is Superior Sex Education Approach

NAEA - Congressional Report: Abstinence Education is Superior Sex Education Approach: The House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee released a report on Friday (July 6, 2012) entitled A Better Approach to Teenage Pregnancy Prevention: Sexual Risk Avoidance. The report examined the theory and the evidence behind both Sexual Risk Avoidance (SRA) Abstinence Education and Sexual Risk Reduction (SRR) "Comprehensive" Sex Education. It concluded that SRA is the superior approach and one that deserves policy priority.

• Read the Congressional report, A Better Approach to Teenage Pregnancy Prevention: Sexual Risk Avoidance here
• Read the NAEA report, Sexual Risk Avoidance Education: Considerations for Protecting Teen Health here
• Read the Abstinence Education Reallocation Act here

'via Blog this'

At the Center magazine Spring 2012 edition

• Centerboard: Hire a Leader and Get Out of the Way! By Tom Lothamer 
• The Love Chapter: 1 Corinthians 13 By Dianne Pomon 
• Help! My Client Is Single and Pregnant. What Do I Do Now? By Elaine Ham 
• Deneutralized: Every Center Has the Potential to Shine! By Dr. Christopher Gustafson 
• About-Face By Jeffrey D. Miller 
• Shepherding Your Center By Pat Stonestreet 
• Abortion Is Not Safer Than Childbirth: Get the Facts and Share the Truth By Thomas A. Glessner, J.D. and Audrey Stout, R.N. R.D.M.S. 
• Being Real By Mark Hiehle 
• You're Not Asking for Yourself By Ron Haas 
• Marketing 101: The Mobile Wave By Jerry Thacker

Purity cannot be stolen

LifeDate, page 8: Tara had been raped. Her pure identity had been taken away. Or had it?

Lolo Jones says remaining a virgin is harder than training for Olympics

Lolo Jones says remaining a virgin is harder than training for Olympics (VIDEO) | Fourth-Place Medal - Yahoo! Sports: In an interview with HBO's "Real Sports," Olympic silver medalist Lolo Jones said saving herself for marriage has been harder than training for two Summer Games.

Related: Miley Cyrus offers advice on sex and self-worth

Editor: Miley's is definitely not a Christian worldview -- "Your worth is based on how you feel about yourself."

'via Blog this'

Get to Know: Pure Path

About Us | Pure Path: Pure Path is strategically partnered with PCCs who have a desire to connect with the churches in their local area. PCCs will be able to be a support and resource for the local church, building a partnership that will benefit both parties.

Pure Path will supply PCCs with helpful resources that will assist the churches in having a relevant impact on their congregations in relation to the topics of Marital Fidelity, Biblical Sexuality, and the Sanctity of Human Life.

'via Blog this'

Motivation for undiluted abstinence ed

Motivation for undiluted abstinence ed. (OneNewsNow.com): After researching federal spending reports, Valerie Huber of the National Abstinence Education Association has found a stunning 1:24 disparity between Sexual Risk Avoidance (SRA) abstinence education and Sexual Risk Reduction (SRR) contraceptive-centered programs. The results of various divisions' reports were compiled primarily by using spending formulas provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2008.

"It means that for every dollar that they have available to provide abstinence education, there are essentially 24 more dollars being spent to give a counter message," she explains. "So, the impact [of abstinence education] is greatly diluted." Nonetheless, Huber is encouraged because with the Abstinence Education Reallocation Act, she senses a window of opportunity on Capitol Hill will correct this.

'via Blog this'

The Downside of Cohabiting Before Marriage

The Downside of Cohabiting Before Marriage - NYTimes.com: Couples who cohabit before marriage (and especially before an engagement or an otherwise clear commitment) tend to be less satisfied with their marriages — and more likely to divorce — than couples who do not. These negative outcomes are called the cohabitation effect.

. . . [R]esearchers call [it] “sliding, not deciding.” Moving from dating to sleeping over to sleeping over a lot to cohabitation can be a gradual slope, one not marked by rings or ceremonies or sometimes even a conversation. Couples bypass talking about why they want to live together and what it will mean.

. . . Women are more likely to view cohabitation as a step toward marriage, while men are more likely to see it as a way to test a relationship or postpone commitment, and this gender asymmetry is associated with negative interactions and lower levels of commitment even after the relationship progresses to marriage. One thing men and women do agree on, however, is that their standards for a live-in partner are lower than they are for a spouse.

Founding relationships on convenience or ambiguity can interfere with the process of claiming the people we love. A life built on top of “maybe you’ll do” simply may not feel as dedicated as a life built on top of the “we do” of commitment or marriage.

. . . [T]he most recent research suggests that serial cohabitators, couples with differing levels of commitment and those who use cohabitation as a test are most at risk for poor relationship quality and eventual relationship dissolution. . . . [F]ar from safeguarding against divorce and unhappiness, moving in with someone can increase your chances of making a mistake — or of spending too much time on a mistake.
'via Blog this'

Abstinence Still Pulling Its Wait

A new report from the National Center for Health Statistics shows that the country is finally seeing the fruit of President Bush's emphasis on "save" sex. According to the report, the teen birth rate in the U.S. dropped to historic lows between 2007 and 2010 for every age and ethnic group. Although the U.S. still has the highest teen birth rate of all industrialized countries, 16 states watched as teen birth rates fell by at least 20%, and 47 experienced an overall decline. The only states that didn't witness any improvements were Montana, North Dakota, and West Virginia. 

Researchers give most of the credit to young people, who seem to be delaying sex and using contraception. But taken together with another recently published report from the Centers for Disease Control, abstinence seems to have been the major factor. Unfortunately, when liberals took over Congress and the White House, they not only zeroed out abstinence education, but they made teaching it a disqualifying factor for federal grants. FRC Washington Update, April 11, 2012

Spread the word about STDs with Giant Microbes!

Pamela Palumbo, CEO of the Pregnancy Clinics in DC Metro, shared a resource for spreading the word about STDs on campus: 

This is what Chlamydia looks like stuffed!

I purchased cute stuffed 'critters' which each are tagged with their name & description and are "sperm', egg, HPV, syphillis, Trich, etc. . . . [W]e took them to the college health fair and put them on the table and WOW, everyone wanted to come see what 'stuffed things' were on the table and picked them up to look at them thinking they were pretty cute. Then as they read them they were shouting out to all thier friends to 'Get over here NOW & see this', gross, OH man....etc. Had amazing drawing ability and we gave out more client cards than ever and called back to the office and made appointments from the fair for STD testing. Who knew. :) 

Find Giant Microbes here.

STDs affect more than you thought

STD's affect more than you thought | wzzm13.com: One out of every two sexually active people under the age of 25 - has one.

'via Blog this'

Abstinence Training Workshop

Wednesday, April 4th 

Care Net Pregnancy Center of Dane County

1350 McArthur Road, Madison, WI

Register here

Love (?) American Style

Love (?) American Style: Sex in dating has become divorced from a committed relationship. We live in a culture that expects men and women to be sexually active, in or out of a relationship, and it's strange if they aren't. . . . Millennials want to do better at marriage and parenting than they perceive their parents did. That's why they're taking their time; they want to get the commitment part right.

Get to Know: Abstinence Works

Abstinence Works: This is a website of the National Abstinence Education Foundation, compiling news, research, and facts about abstinence education.

True purity: Not my own

Daily Spurgeon: If, like the young man in the gospel narrative, we could say of the commandments, “All these things have I kept from my youth up,” yet would we count our virtues and obediences to be but dross that we might win Christ and be found in him.

Fall issue of At the Center magazine

Centerboard: Stepping up to the Challenge
By Tom Lothamer

Project 180 Helps Kids Make a Turn for the Better!
By Lori Hatcher

Pregnancy Centers and the Local Church: Partners in Life or Adversaries in Ministry? — Part 3
By Elaine Ham

Dream to Vision to Reality
By Pat Stonestreet

ARIN: Abortion Recovery InterNational
By Stacy l. Massey

It's That Time Again — Back to School
By Sherry Camelleri

Preparation for Future Attacks in the Upcoming 2012 Legislative Sessions
By Thomas A. Glessner, J.D.

Walking by Faith Toward Adoption
By Mark Hiehle

Fishing for Foundations
By Ron Haas

Marketing 101: Speaking the Same Language
By Jerry Thacker

Teen Sexual Behavior: Promoting Wise Choices

Teen Sexual Behavior: Promoting Wise Choices: Statistics released today about American teens’ sexual behavior belie the popular portrayal of American youth as permissive and careless. New data from the Centers for Disease Control shows that the majority of teens have remained abstinent.

'via Blog this'

New graphic STD brochures from Heritage House

Heritage House is excited to offer a new set of graphic STD brochures designed to provide a powerful tool in reaching the younger generations. Each brochure is written in clear and easy to understand English with short bulleted (and documented) text. The edgy design combines with the graphic images to create an instant draw to the information.

Can two walk together except they be in agreement?

The new curriculum combines teaching from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and from the Life Center, a faith-oriented pregnancy resource center based in Midland. The new curriculum will focus on four key areas: partnership, delivery, parents and assessment. “In no other place in Texas or even the U.S. do you see ‘abstinence-plus’ and ‘abstinence-only’ curriculums joining hands,” Loyd said. “The CDC says that abstinence is the best choice—that’s our common thread and the bottom line.” OAOA

Editor: Abstinence-only + abstinence-plus = abstinence-plus.