File this under: Unintended irony.
The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) today released a report entitled “Stand and Deliver: Sex, health and young people in the 21st Century.”
I’m guessing the title alludes to the critically acclaimed film “Stand and Deliver” starring Edward James Olmos in which he played a dedicated math teacher who challenges his erstwhile high school dropouts to learn calculus. In the movie, these misunderstood yet courageous young people come of age, metaphorically, as they realize their true potential.
As it happens, according to the Web site phrases.org, the phrase “stand and deliver… was used by 17th century highwaymen (robbers) in the UK, when holding up stagecoaches.” It literally means, “Stop and give me your valuables.”
Come to think of it, given the contents of this ghastly report, the title may be apropos after all because what the IPPF wants to do is hold our children up and steal their innocence, their childhoods and worst of all, their sexual morality.
First, some context: IPPF is the international umbrella for 180 Planned Parenthood organizations worldwide. Its political agenda includes population control through contraception and abortion, as well as the broad promotion of “sexual rights.”
IPPF works closely the United Nations and other international groups to promote social and political change in support of their views on sexuality.
Those view include seven principles of “sexual rights” including that “Sexuality is an integral part of the personhood of every human being, for this reason a favourable (sic) environment in which everyone may enjoy all sexual rights as part of the process of development must be created” and “Sexuality, and pleasure deriving from it, is a central aspect of being human...”
The IPPF’s new report on sexuality in young people – loosely defined but including anyone over the age of 10 – expands on these rights to include children.
That’s right. Children.
The report says, “The evolving capacities of the child include his or her physiological ability to reproduce, his or her psychological ability to make informed decisions about counselling (sic) and health care, and his or her emotional and social ability to engage in sexual behaviours (sic) in accordance with the responsibilities and roles that this entails.”
Among the recommendations the IPPF makes to governments across the globe is mandatory sexual education for children age 10 and older to include “the pleasures of sex.”
Worse, the report specifically calls out organized religions, including the Catholic Church and the Muslim religion, for promoting sexual repression.
The report puts it this way:
Young people’s sexuality is still contentious for many religious institutions… Currently, many religious teachings deny the pleasurable and positive aspects of sex and limited guidelines for sexual education often focus on abstinence before marriage …
IPPF, clearly believing sexual freedom for young people outweighs any concerns about silly things such as…oh, say… thousands of years of religious doctrine, offers up this nugget of advice:
Each religion or faith must find a way of explaining and providing guidance on issues of sex and sexual relationships among young people, which supports rather than denies their experiences and needs. By highlighting strong values in faiths and religions, and overcoming stigma and stereotypes that religious conventions perpetuate, communities and leaders can help improve young people’s access to sexual and reproductive health information and services, and so improve their health and well-being.
Huh? If you can get through the jargon, you understand that IPPF advocates government leaders usurp the rights of parents to instill their religious beliefs and values about sexual morality in their children in favor of improving “access to sexual and reproductive health information and services” for all young people.
Let’s not forget those services are largely provided by Planned Parenthood. What a coincidence.
To be clear, this report is secular-progressive free-sex propaganda and anti-religious bigotry disguised as public health whitepaper, and most of us will read about this report and simply think, “This is nuts.”
But it’s not nearly as crazy as the stuff these folks want taught in your child’s fifth grade classroom, and right now, they have the ear of the US Department of Education.
Don’t say you weren’t warned.