Planned Parenthood Believes in Abstinence! Seriously.
Planned Parenthood Ohio is using a stodgy, responsible-looking older woman to rationalize its newest campaign, "The A-Word," which from what I can tell is made up of one video and an "Abstinence" graphic in smudgy Courier. Two of the tabs, "Affordability" and "Advocacy," are still "Coming Soon..."
The site was put together by Eisen Management Group, who argues "Planned Parenthood has been characterized in a largely false and negative light for far too long" -- that is, as champions for sex, however safe, but not abstinence.
PP, I get that you're trying to appeal to the redder half of Ohio, but couldn't you have reached a little further? Show us some ragged cheerleaders, or the timid gangster waiting for his STD results. (The best part is, I'm actually drawing these examples from what I've seen in the waiting room.) Sex is fun, but worry isn't, and abstinence's best selling-point is peace of mind.
Your A-Word microsite's half-baked, and I don't like that woman; she's too much like the Responsible Clinicians whose drymouth talk we have to endure before you give us our birth control shot already. Point of fact: those lectures aren't effective, and neither is she.
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Not to mention that the overwhelming scientific research points to the fact that abstinence sex education achieves exactly the opposite of what the right-wing religiots are seeking to achieve....
Maybe PP's motives are suspect when it comes to promoting abstinence. After all, they still advocate for abortion on demand, and condoms and birth control for teens. If adults want to risk their health with losing propositions by using condoms (which only work 85% of the time) and birth control (which doesn't protect against STD's) that's their choice. When preteens, teens, and young adults are targeted for PP's nonsense, that's where I push back.
Abstinence is not about politics, appealing fundies or people who live in red states. It's about getting accurate information to people about the advantages of an abstinent lifestyle. I NEVER thought I would defend PP regarding any of their ideologies. However, their stance on abstinence is decent - I'd give them an A- for effort.
I just re-read my above post...and...UGHH...what was I thinking?!!! I must have been in a VERY generous mood that day when I began to defend PP. If you don't read that Ohio website carefully (I just skimmed through it the first time), you would think they were all for abstinence. When I did research for an article about PP, I visited their site again and read their abstinence page carefully this time. All I can say is...UGHH!!! You're right, they're lame and they are big fat posers too.