Fox News features abortion propaganda article: promotes slanted study that decries pregnancy resource centers

FoxNews.com featured a hit piece this week on pregnancy resource centers that read like the slanted agenda of abortion lobbyists; the “Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology” (JPAG) did a “study” on the efficacy of pregnancy resource centers (PRCs, referred to as “crisis pregnancy centers” in the study) and then determined summarily that Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion chain, is more reliable than pregnancy centers.  The study, entitled, “Information about Sexual Health on Crisis Pregnancy Center Websites: Accurate for Adolescents?” was conducted by four researchers who examined 254 PRC websites listed in various state directories for pregnant women.  Researchers found that many of the websites were oriented toward young people, and several common themes related to adolescent sexuality information persisted – information they consider “inaccurate and misleading.”

The researchers did not mention that their beloved Planned Parenthood offers explicit sexual advice to teens on Planned Parenthood’s site and on those of affiliates’ clinics, the content of which would make a sailor blush.

First, that PRC websites are designed to appeal to teens should be no surprise.  According to the abortion-promoting Guttmacher Institute, unintended pregnancy is most common among young women age 18 to 24, decreasing as age increases.  Organizations with the mission of providing help to women in unexpected pregnancies will naturally target the age range of the audience deemed most vulnerable.  Education and support can then be tailored for the intended age bracket– and possibly reach at-risk young men and women before an unintended pregnancy occurs.

The study then takes issue with the fact that the majority of PRCs state that condoms are “not very effective,” especially when juxtaposed with the option of delaying sex until marriage.  Contrasted to abstinence, the effectiveness of condoms is dismal.  Whereas 0 in 5 abstinent teens will contract an STI or become pregnant, the odds skyrocket to up to 1 in 5 for condom-wielding adolescents.  Researchers omitted any stats on the efficacy of the types of birth control and contraception that they or Planned Parenthood peddle.  In spite of the failure rates of pregnancy preventatives, the continued promotion of sexual activity is, interestingly, the foundational principle of promotion for groups that stand to profit from the culture of gratuitous sex among teens.

More surprising than the predictable abortion agenda is that Fox News would feature such propaganda.  Most of the commentators on Fox News as well as the writers espouse conservative values, including Pro-Life views.  The success of Fox News was predicated on like-minded loyalists who were disgusted with the venom from other media outlets.  For Fox to post this article on this so-called study is an insult to Fox’s base, not to mention to women who eschew abortion as part of women’s health.

“Listing crisis pregnancy centers in state resource directories may lend legitimacy to the information on these websites,” state the researchers.  “States should be discouraged from listing websites as an accurate source of information in their resource directories.”  However, despite the researchers’ conclusion that “websites” should not be listed in state directories, study author Katelyn R. Bryant-Comstock overtly recommended Planned Parenthood, Scarleteen.com, and Stayteen.org as “reliable sources” of information for teens and adolescent sexuality information.  She even suggested that parents point their teens to these outlets after warning them about the dangers of PRC websites.

All three of these recommended resources are rife with inaccurate information on the effects of gratuitous premarital sex, advise the use of dangerous hormonal birth control and abortifacients like Plan B, and contain innumerable statements that call into question their advocacy for the wellbeing of youth.  For sad, shocking examples, click here.

If teens actually heed the study’s advice to avoid the use of the internet for sexuality information and instead opt to visit Planned Parenthood for a face-to-face meeting with a medical professional, the youth will still be subjected to dangerous, illegal, and downright disturbing sexual education advice.

Another researcher-recommended resource, Scarleteen.com, boasts an online shop with variety packages of sex items for teens.  One pack, called the “Handy Hookup Heap!” is specially designed for those teens who plan on “staying up all night.”  The heap equips teens with a variety of condom types, single-use lubricants, and a “so-adorbs” disposable toothbrush.  Do you think many parents, health professionals, or child psychologists would agree with the advocacy of this overt indoctrination into sexuality?  We do not.

However, these are the resources that JPAG researchers deem more appropriate and reliable for our children than the advice issued by PRCs to avoid STIs and unintended pregnancy entirely by foregoing contraceptives and so-called “safer sex,” and instead simply saving sex for marriage.  In addition to eradicating the aforementioned medical consequences, abstinence ensures greater psychological and emotional stability than exposing our children to the complexities of sex at a young age, when they are still discovering who they are and hope to become.  If, as FoxNews posits, these ideals are misleading our children, how much more so are the alternatives?