Teen Pregnancy - 2/3/99

[Smartmarriages ©]

 Lisa Rue will present a workshop on an educational
program on teen abstinence "Friends First/Wait Program" 
at the Smart Marriages conference.  This article helps define the issues. 

U.S. teen pregnancy?

By Cheryl Wetzstein THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Americans dither on the kind of pregnancy-prevention messages they want 
to send to teens, Europeans are in their second decade of saying young 
people should have "safe sex or no sex." 

Some U.S. reproductive health experts think the European model deserves a 
chance here.

 France, Germany and the Netherlands all enjoy lower rates of teen 
births, abortions and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) than American 
teens. Also, European teens typically start sexual activity later than 
American teens and have fewer sexual partners, says a report by Advocates 
for Youth (AFY). 

However, a quick review of U.S. media and health care policies shows that 
a European-style safe-sex message would hit numerous barriers here.

 A recent forum hosted by AFY, a reproductive health advocacy group, 
showed numerous European "safe sex" campaigns, several of which started 
in the 1980s. 

One TV ad showed a beautiful woman tossing a handsome man out of her bed 
when he refused to use a condom. Another showed a couple breaking off an 
embrace long enough to pull a classy-looking condom out of a pocket.

 Other commercials had such messages as, "I'll take something off if you 
put something on," "Your condom or mine?" or "Talk about contraception 
while your pants are still on."

 These messages, given throughout European schools and society with 
government and public support, create national expectations that if teens 
decide to become sexually active, they will protect themselves from 
unwanted pregnancy and disease. In Europe, needing an abortion is 
shameful because it's not deciding to have sex responsibly, experts told 
the AFY forum. 

In America, however, there are "contradictory" and "confused" norms and 
policies about teen sexuality, AFY President James Wagoner said in the 
group's report, "European Approaches to Adolescent Sexual Behavior and 
Responsibility." 

The U.S. entertainment industry often encourages sex, while a new federal 
policy says that teens should abstain from sex until marriage, said Mr. 
Wagoner. Meanwhile, 70 percent of U.S. 18-year-olds have had sexual 
intercourse, he said. 

"We cannot afford to ignore the needs of sexually active youth," Mr. 
Wagoner said. "Could the 'silver bullet' solution for the United States 
be mass-media campaigns like those in Europe that boast a single, 
consistent message -- 'safe sex or no sex'?" he asked. 

Focus on the Family, a traditional values group, has three words for this 
suggestion: non, nein and neen. 

The European model has led to "skyrocketing" rates of out-of-wedlock 
births and cohabitation because it "removes all links between sexual 
behavior and the institution of marriage," Focus on the Family said in a 
statement on the AFY report. 

Safe-sex messages have already been tried and failed in this country, the 
group said. The trend toward sexual abstinence until marriage is working, 
so "why would we want to replace an approach that is working with one 
that will take us in the wrong direction?" it asked. 

These policy arguments are far from over. However, a quick look at one 
successful European campaign -- the Netherlands' "Double Dutch" -- shows 
that it would not replicate easily in this country. 

The "Double Dutch" campaign urges girls to take oral contraceptives and 
boys to use condoms. By using both kinds of contraceptives, young people 
have "double" protection against pregnancy and STDs, says the AFY report. 

The first barrier "Double Dutch" would hit in the United States is the 
virtual blackout on condom ads on TV. 

The National Association of Broadcasters lifted a ban on contraceptive 
advertising in 1982, "yet most major networks still air no commercials or 
public health campaigns that deal with condoms, contraception or sexual 
risk reduction," AFY said in its report. 

Networks fear a public "backlash," the report explained. 

"All the major networks do not accept, as policy, condom advertising," 
concurred Jim Cowsert, brand manager for Durex, a condom company that 
started a teen-pregnancy prevention campaign with actress Jane Fonda in 
1997. 

Mr. Cowsert said Durex ads have appeared on a few cable channels, such as 
MTV, but were restricted to evening hours. 

MTV has also created and aired its own public service announcements on 
condoms, but most teen-pregnancy prevention messages on TV are 
noncontroversial or promote abstinence, said Marisa Nightingale of the 
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. When people ask for donated 
time for their public service announcements, they are likely to stick to 
messages "that won't stir up added controversy, she said. 

Even if American teens could get a "Double Dutch" message, they would 
have trouble obtaining the contraceptives, reproductive health experts 
said. 

In France, Germany and the Netherlands, most people have health 
insurance, and girls can get oral contraceptives without getting pelvic 
exams or their parents' permission. Condoms are also readily available, 
either in clinics for free, or in stores, restaurants and clubs for 
pennies. 

In America, 23 states and the District of Columbia explicitly allow teens 
to get contraceptives, and no state "explicitly mandates parental 
involvement" when teens seek contraceptive services, the Alan Guttmacher 
Institute (AGI) said. 

But teens still struggle with issues relating to confidentiality, 
transportation to doctor's offices or clinics, pelvic-exam requirements 
and substantial financial costs. Only 33 percent of private health plans 
pay for oral contraceptives, the AFY report said, and other experts say 
most teens would have to pay between $18 and $25 a month for them. 

For these and other reasons, teen use of oral contraceptives has dropped 
from 64 percent in 1982 to 44 percent in 1995, an AGI study found. 

Parental involvement in teen contraceptive use remains an active issue. 
Last year, House Republicans, led by Rep. Ernest Istook of Oklahoma, 
passed an amendment barring family planning clinics that get federal 
Title X funds from giving teens services without written parental consent 
or parental notification. 

This amendment died in the Senate but is likely to be revived this year, 
House aides said. 

Condoms are a popular contraceptive in the United States and are 
distributed free in thousands of clinics and other health services. But 
American teens still do not have the same easy access as do European 
teens. 

Condom vending machines --common in Europe -- are rare in America, said 
the AFY report. 

And condoms can be expensive, said Leslie Watson, who works with youth at 
the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Health. "Good ones" can cost $7 
to $10 a box, she said. 

Despite these barriers, Miss Watson is one of many experts who thinks the 
European "safe-sex-or-no-sex" message "is one that we should be looking 
at closely." 

"We need to start testing some new methods and looking at new paradigms," 
she said.

"Around the Coalition" shares a wide range of information on marriage, 
divorce, and educational approaches.  Opinions expressed are not 
necessarily shared by members of the Coalition. 

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