Maria Shriver Misses the Point

Maria Shriver Misses the Point
Rebecca Hagelin
Tuesday, November 10, 2009

A recent report by Maria Shriver on the status of women in America calls on the government to provide more day care, require more flex time, and grow programs across the board to accommodate the needs of what she calls, “A Woman’s Nation”. The report celebrates the economic success and power of women over the last few decades, yet totally fails to acknowledge that the family unit has disintegrated during those exact same years. Shriver misses what should be the central goal of any effort to help women and families: How can we as a society restore our belief in, and national commitment to, marriage?

Look at just how far the American family has disintegrated: In 1950 for every 100 babies that were born, 12 were born to a broken family; they were either born out of wedlock or to a family that would soon suffer divorce. Fast forward to the 21st century and we find a gross tragedy: For every 100 babies that are born in America, 60 are born to a broken family.

Divorce and out-of-wedlock births are wreaking havoc on both individuals and our nation. Single motherhood is the greatest source of poverty in the nation, driving moms away from the growing children who need them and into jobs. Divorce causes our sons and daughters to be raised by someone else while single moms and dads work more hours to maintain to separate households. As adults have focused on our selfish desires to be independent of an enduring commitment to a spouse, we have created an entire generation of children who are suffering from brokenness. Yet, you read very little about the tragic outcomes.

Noted family researcher Dr. Pat Fagan, a senior fellow with the Family Research Council, has reported, “The children of parents who reject each other suffer: in deep emotional pain, ill health, depression, anxiety, even shortened lifespan; more drop out of school, fewer go to college, they earn less income, they develop more addiction to drugs and alcohol, and they engage in increased violence or suffer it within their own homes.”

Unless we restore marriage as our national foundation we will not save this country.

Being part of an intact family unit with a mother and father who are fully committed to each other is the single greatest indicator of success in every area of life. The social science data is clear: women, men and children are all better off emotionally, psychologically, and physically in an intact family unit.

A growing economy will not save us. Women’s advancement in the workplace and in education will not save us. Greater flex hours will not save us. All of those things are wonderful advancements that contribute to a better society. But if we continue to destroy and “reinvent” the basic building block of every single civil society since the beginning of time – the family unit – we will fail as a nation.

John Podesta, said in his preface to the Shriver report, “…our policy landscape remains stuck in an idealized past, where the typical family was composed of a married-for-life couple…”

The reason that a family composed of a “married-for-life” couple is idealized, is because it is the ideal basis for a family. So why aren’t we doing everything possible to promote the ideal, rather than spending so much time, effort and money treating the natural consequences of failed families?

While we bind up the wounds of children and broken families, we must be working on the cure. Start by focusing on your own marriage, and then help others understand the beautiful treasure that is “marriage”. You can learn more about how to do both at www.FamilyLife.com.
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Way to Go, Planned Parenthood
Dr. Miriam Grossman, M.D.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009

In the battle over sex education, Planned Parenthood claims the high ground in providing accurate information and protecting reproductive health. Their homepage states, “We deliver comprehensive and medically accurate information that empowers women, men, teens, and families to make informed choices and lead healthy lives.”

As a physician who has spent hundreds of hours with young people with sexually transmitted infections, I’m on a one-woman mission to expose the falsehood of those claims. Planned Parenthood’s sexual health education is not comprehensive or medically accurate; to the contrary, this eminent, federally funded organization endangers lives by withholding critical biological truths.

Consider the advice given young people by their VP of Medical Affairs, Vanessa Cullins.

Dr. Cullins, an obstetrician-gynecologist, has gone on YouTube to declare, “Expect to have HPV once you become sexually intimate – all of us get it.” So make sure you’re vaccinated, she advises kids, and get screened for cervical cancer.

How can a medical doctor, an expert in women’s health, make this preposterous assertion?

It’s as if the American Medical Association announced: “Expect to have diabetes once you hit a certain age - all of us do”, while omitting the fact that with proper diet and exercise, the condition can be avoided.

Dr Cullins knows that one can remain free of the human papillomavirus – along with every other sexually transmitted infection - without taking a lifelong vow of chastity. One simply has to delay sexual behavior, find someone who also waited, and then remain monogamous. She knows that couples fortunate enough to have done so will be forever free of genital warts, blisters, discharges and abnormal Pap tests; they are spared the awkward sharing of “sexual histories”; what to tell and when; doctor’s appointments and medications; getting poked, swabbed, stuck, and biopsied; and always wondering: Am I getting another outbreak? Will I give warts to my spouse? Will the virus affect my baby?

If Planned Parenthood was genuinely committed to reproductive health and accurate information, here’s what Dr. Cullins would have said on YouTube:

Sexually transmitted infections are 100% avoidable. Your sexual behavior, including your partner choice, will determine the risk to your health. The following factors place you at high risk for HPV, even with 100% condom use:

-Being a sexually active teen girl, or any male who has sex with other males

-Initiating sexual behavior at a young age,

-Having multiple partners,

-Having sex with someone who has had multiple partners.

Other facts you need to know about this virus:

-Smoking and/or use of hormonal contraceptives may increase the risk of HPV infection in teen girls.

-Unlike girls, guys are not routinely screened for HPV. So even if his STD testing came back negative, a guy can unknowingly give you this virus, even if he uses a condom.

-HPV can be transmitted during oral sex, and can cause cancers of the throat.

Any sex educator who omits these facts is not providing comprehensive, medically accurate information. Far from empowering young people and their parents, omitting these points gives people a false sense of security, and the consequences are disastrous. Trust me, I’ve seen it all play out in my office - that’s why I embarked on this mission.

As for Vanessa Cullins’ assertion that “all of us get it”: Speak for yourself, doctor. You must live in a bubble, where everyone you know engages in high risk behaviors. Those of us outside that bubble know there are plenty of people with wonderful, satisfying sexual lives who are free of infection, disease, and worry.

This is the question the country must answer: who will educate our children about staying healthy? Do we want our kids to join Dr. Cullins in the Planned Parenthood bubble?

If your doctor declared, “expect to get diabetes, we all do”, you’d fire her. When a Sex Ed “expert” says, “expect to get a STI”, it’s time to send her a pink slip. Otherwise, the claim “we all get it” will come closer and closer to being the truth.