"First, let's set the record straight," said Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League. "I was born in 1943 and grew up with the generations that a new Guttmacher 'study' claims were having premarital sex at a 95 percent rate. It just didn't happen. It is a lie." In a recent news release, Guttmacher trumpeted its researcher's claim that "premarital sex is nearly universal among Americans, and has been for decades" and referred to premarital sexual activity as "normal."
"The Guttmacher Institute likes to portray itself as an independent organization, but it is, in reality, an affiliate of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America," said Sedlak. "Look at the PPFA annual report. It lists the Guttmacher Institute's finances as part of its data."
Sedlak also said that in 2002, Planned Parenthood issued a report stating that, to achieve its goals, people in the United States would have to accept the idea that "young people will have intimate sexual relationships without being married and that these relationships are natural and contribute to maturing into a sexually healthy adult."
"Finally," explained Sedlak, "let's realize that with a new Congress taking office in two weeks, Planned Parenthood will be aggressively trying to increase the funding for its programs and decreasing the funding for what it sees as its competition ? specifically anything that gives an 'abstinence only' message."
The latest salvo in this effort is the recent headline-grabbing sex "study" whose author, who works for Guttmacher, calls for the cessation of funding of the abstinence-only message and an increase in funding for Planned Parenthood programs.
"It is incredible that this report should be given any credence at all," said Sedlak. "We all remember the 'studies' of the tobacco industry telling us how safe and non-addictive smoking is. Now comes another report, from another industry lapdog, claiming federal funding for its products are needed, and we are suppose to believe it? It is time Americans understood that Planned Parenthood produces these reports for the same reason the tobacco industry produced its purportedly scientific studies ? to increase its profits. We call on everyone to reject this study and to demand that no government funds be put into spreading Planned Parenthood's agenda."
Release issued: 21 Dec 06