Safe Sex?

Editor’s Note: Please visit our home page for a full listing of abortion facts.

Safe Sex Cover Art

Stop…

  • STD’s (Sexually Transmitted Diseases)
  • AIDS
  • Guilt
  • Doubt & Worry
  • Deceptive Relationships
  • Loss of Self-Esteem
  • Abortion Trauma
  • Exploitation
  • Emotional Disorders
  • Unwed Pregnancy

Know the Facts

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened a symposium in June of 2000. Experts were selected from many fields and scientific studies were gathered. Only those studies which met rigorous requirements were selected. This included the condition that a study be “peer reviewed” by other scientists for publication in scientific journals. Those 138 studies were used to draw conclusions. Here is what they found:[1]

There is no clinical proof that condoms are effective in reducing the risk of infection from chlamydia, genital herpes, HPV, syphilis, chancroid, trichomoniasis and many other sexually transmitted diseases. Some protection was found for men against gonorrhea infection, but not for women.

Condoms were found to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDs transmission during vaginal sex by 85% when used consistently (every time a person has sex, without exception) and “correctly” (following a specific 6 step procedure).

Using condoms 100% of the time still leaves a 15% relative risk of HIV infection compared to not using condoms at all. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, a routinely fatal disease.

Condoms do not provide complete protection from any STD or pregnancy. STD infection can occur in both males and females whether or not a condom is used.

Go…

On LIVING – free of all of the complications.

On to develop meaningful relationships free from sexual obligations.

On to develop rewarding skills and abilities.

On to decide what you want to do with your future.

On to become the best person possible.

More Facts…

Condoms are only 85% effective in preventing AIDS, a routinely fatal disease![2]

Typical use of condoms carries a 14% failure rate for pregnancy alone.[3]

The rubber comprising latex condoms has naturally occurring voids (holes) about 5 microns in size. The AIDS virus is only 0.1 micron in size, a factor of 50 times smaller.[4]

Diseases . . . You Don’t Want

It is estimated that over 65 million people are now infected with an STD and 19 million new infections occur each year. Almost half of these new infections occur in young people 15-24 years old.[5] The spread of STD’s in the U.S. is staggering:

Genital Herpes – 45 million people ages 12 and older have had a genital herpes infection. That amounts to one out of every five adolescents and adults.[6] If someone has a herpes sore on an area not covered by the condom, they can still transmit the disease to their partner, because it’s transmitted skin-to-skin.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) – 6.2 million new infections every year, with nearly 20,000,000 people infected.[7]

HIV/AIDS – 529,000 deaths so far in the U.S – that’s enough to fill 10 football stadiums. An Estimated 944,000 people are living with AIDS today.[8]

Chlamydia – Reported more often than any sexually transmitted infection caused by bacteria. More than 929,400 cases were reported in 2004 (the most recent data) and almost half of these occurred in persons 15-24 years old.[9]

When you have sex with someone, you are having sex with everyone they have had sex with for the last ten years, and everyone they and their partners have had sex with for the last ten years.

– C. Everett Koop, Former U.S. Surgeon General

References

  1. ^ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention, Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Workshop Summary: Scientific Evidence on Condom Effectiveness for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Prevention June 12-13, 2000, found at: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/dmid/stds/condomreport.pdf, (a review of 138 scientific studies concerning condom effectiveness published July 20, 2001) accessed on 8-25-06.
  2. ^ ibid
  3. ^ U.S. Department Of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration Center for Devices and Radiological Health found at: http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/ode/contrlab.html, accessed 8-30-06.
  4. ^ The Barrier Performance of Latex Rubber, C.M. Roland; Chemistry Division, Code 6120, Naval Research Laboratory: Washington, D.C. 1993.
  5. ^ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance, 2004. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, September 2005, found at: http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats/trends2004.htm, accessed 8-29-06.
  6. ^ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Genital Herpes Fact Sheet, content reviewed May, 2004 found at:http://www.cdc.gov/std/Herpes/STDFact-Herpes.htm, accessed 8-30-06.
  7. ^ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, Division of STD Prevention, Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Fact Sheet, Genital HPV Infection, found at: http://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm, accessed 8-30-06.
  8. ^ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention, Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention, A Glance at the HIV/AIDS Epidemic, found at: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/At-A-Glance.htm, accessed 8-30-06.
  9. ^ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, Division of STD Prevention, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Chlamydia, Chlamydia Fact Sheet, found at http://www.cdc.gov/std/Chlamydia/STDFact-Chlamydia.htm, accessed 8-30-06.