By Jim Sedlak
For those of you who receive American Life League’s Pro-Life This Week, you will recall that, in the May 3, 2019, Action Item we told you that May is celebrated in the Catholic Church as the month of Mary—a month of prayer and reflection about the human being who is our greatest example of virtue.
It would not surprise you to know that Planned Parenthood—and all who adopt its same worldview—pays no attention to Mary’s virtues or her example in living a pure, chaste life.
The month of May is recognized by different individuals and organizations for many different reasons. In Planned Parenthood’s world, it was, for years, the National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month. Preventing teen pregnancy was actually a goal that could be joined by religious groups as well as the secular world. Of course, our vision of how to reduce teen pregnancy—purity, chastity, abstinence from sex, etc.—was much different from those who wanted to sell birth control products and make lots of money from teens. For this latter group, comprehensive sexuality education and “safer” sex practices, while using birth control, was pushed.
Looking at statistics from the last decade, we see that Planned Parenthood has a problem. Teen pregnancy rates declined significantly in the United States. While Planned Parenthood tries to take credit for the decline, a review of Planned Parenthood’s annual reports show that its female birth control customers actually dropped by 25 percent. The lower teen pregnancies are not the result of more women using Planned Parenthood services.
On the surface, it would appear from this limited data that teen pregnancies are declining because fewer teen girls are involved in sex. If this were true, it would not make Planned Parenthood happy. Planned Parenthood’s business model has always been to get kids involved in sex; sell them birth control products; and when the birth control fails, sell them an abortion. Fewer kids involved in sex means fewer customers for Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood has always produced customers by exposing young people to its brand of sexuality education programs. These programs are designed to get kids involved in a sexual lifestyle.
According to a recent article in Insider NJ:
“A coalition of national organizations including Power to Decide, Advocates for Youth, SIECUS, Healthy Teen Network, the Guttmacher Institute, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America agreed to rename the observance [Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month] to ‘Sex Ed for All: Youth Power, Information, and Rights Month,’ in order to acknowledge that young people’s sexual health needs go beyond pregnancy prevention.”
Roslyn Rogers Collins, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey, tried to explain the new emphasis: “
We are standing with young people, no matter who they are or where they live, to fight for access to the sex education they need and deserve. . . . It’s crucial that we listen to young people and ensure that they get the necessary information and skills they deserve to protect their health and plan their futures.”
That statement is an illustration of the fallacy that underlies much of what is wrong with Planned Parenthood. Young people do not “need” Planned Parenthood-style sex education. The reason is simple: Young people do not “need” to have sex. Nobody ever died from not having sex. Food is a need. Oxygen is a need. Hydration is a need. Sex is not a need.
You know who does need sex? Planned Parenthood. The organization and most of its representatives are fixated on sex. Dr. Ruth Westheimer, who used to work at Planned Parenthood, recently told an interviewer with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,
“I needed a part-time job while my children were growing up, and I was offered a position doing research for Planned Parenthood and I thought, all these people, all they do is talk about sex.”
The month of May is an example of the battle in which our world is engaged. Planned Parenthood tells our children that sex is a need in their lives. Mary, the Mother of God, told the children at Fatima:
“More souls go to hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.”
Let us reject the teachings of Planned Parenthood and embrace those of Jesus and Mary, His mother. And let us teach our children self-control, discipline, and all the virtues—especially purity and chastity.
Jim Sedlak is executive director of American Life League, founder of STOPP International, and host of a weekly talk show on the Radio Maria Network. He has been successfully fighting Planned Parenthood since 1985.
