Category Archives: Medical Issues

Supreme Court – Death of the Martyrs

June 30, 2014

Today is an interesting juxtaposition of the modern effort to “kill” faith fought through the U.S. Supreme Court as compared to a similar first century effort of Nero, Emperor of Rome, to “kill” faith.

“Killing Faith” is always accompanied by victims. Today, June 30, on the Calendar of Saints, is set aside to remember the early Christian martyrs who followed the fate of St. Peter and St. Paul, victims slain under Nero’s command.

Victims in the battle against faith are often beheaded, crucified and burned at the stake.

What about the victims of this modern American battle? Liberals maintain that these victims are the more “progressive” people in the country who “deserve their choice” to handle embryos, fetuses and the pre-born “according to their conscience.”

Liberals would have us believe the Supreme Court decisions announced in the past week are a tragic loss for America. Liberals denounce Christian opponents as the radicals…trying to impose their faith on the culture.

If only those pesky, noisy, irritating Christians would go home and pray in their bedrooms! They should consider themselves lucky for being able to wear their silly crosses at work (for the time being). Don’t they realize they could be living under Nero…or Hamas?

Clearly, Christians are a thorn in the side of secular “humanists” who see nothing wrong with partial birth abortion, much less contraception. Up to now, these “humanists” have succeeded in maintaining partial-birth abortion as a “choice.” And if they have to rewrite the American Constitution to achieve this? It seems they consider this a small price to pay.

Maybe one day, we will be able to honor the blood of millions of tiny martyrs in the battle to defend the dignity of human life in the Land of the Free. Does anyone remember what was revealed in the trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell?

In 2011, Gosnell and various co-defendant employees were charged with eight counts of murder:

The murder charges [against Gosnell] related to an adult patient, Karnamaya Mongar, who died following an abortion procedure and seven newborns said to have been killed, by having their spinal cord severed with scissors, after being born alive during attempted abortions. In May 2013, Gosnell was convicted of first degree murder in the deaths of three of the infants and he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Karnamaya Mongar….He was sentenced instead to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

What did the Gosnell trial teach us? How does this illuminate the tremendous victory today at the Supreme Court for Christians who are able to truly live out the foundational truths of their faith? And what does this portend for the future?

Free speech – Yes, even Christians have the right to speak in America. Remember that wonderful liberal “right to choose?” Yes, you can choose to listen…or not. Ear plugs can purchased at your pharmacy even as you pick up your prescription for birth control.
No – According to Webster’s, Christian is not yet synonymous with bomber. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has declared it legal for Christians to “walk about the country,” you will have to meet them with honest, factual information instead of court orders. We have established…once again…that America is a land where the free can battle freely on the field of ideas.
Yes – Maybe one day Christians…and many other non-Christian people who value life…may convince the culture at large that killing even one little infant in Gosnell’s clinic is evil. If that horrifies a liberal…you can look back to the days when Christians said that owning even one slave was evil. Evil is evil. Evil is not defined as a democratic “choice.”
Finally – Evil…when it is legal…is still evil! Evil…when it is approved by the majority…is still evil! Does anyone remember Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini?

Thanks to the hard work and steadfastness of all the fighters in the battle to defend religious liberty! It is this very liberty that founded our country. And one day, liberals may open their eyes and realize that it is this same religious liberty that can save our country.

The CDC: Dereliction of Duty, Pt 2

June 11, 2014

Sitting on the plane, waiting for takeoff, I opened the newspaper in my lap. I couldn’t believe my eyes!

Finally! Finally, the truth about condoms was coming out. In the newspaper. Everyone would finally hear the truth about condoms.

This meant I could get my life back. I could quit researching and writing about condoms and sex education. I could return to my garden and plant flowers instead.

For the past five years, I had spent hours in the library and at the keyboard. On the telephone, I interviewed sex educators from all parts of the country. Interviews were transcribed, and information was organized into file folders. And I was on the plane, now, headed for a Miami conference on sex education.

Condoms were the culprit. At the time, with HIV/AIDS taking hold in our culture, we had very little knowledge about the disease. People were dying, and we still didn’t have the whole story about how they contracted HIV or when we might have a cure.

Condoms were our only ally. Condoms protect. Use a condom. Use a condom consistently and correctly…every time…everywhere…put a basket of condoms in the bathroom, in the school office…everywhere! Now! Use a condom!

Condoms made us feel safe. We could still have all the sex we wanted…with whomever we wanted…as long as we used a condom…consistently and correctly. Our sex was safe. Protected. We were protected…and safe!

After all…the Centers for Disease Control, CDC, was looking after us.

Linking arms with Planned Parenthood, SIECUS and state health departments, the CDC gave its nod to wrapping the United States up in one giant condom campaign for “SAFE SEX”:

2000, Planned Parenthood Ohio held a condom giveaway – a bright yellow coupon redeemable for free condoms and a MacDonald’s gift certificate.
2000, Planned Parenthood Southern Arizona spent $100,000 on “Use Condom Sense” campaign that featured billboards on buses showing a 13-year-old girl holding up a condom. Included in the campaign, 19 condom machines were placed in teen hang-outs, including the Tucson Parks and Recreation Department.
2002, Planned Parenthood celebrated the introduction of The Planned Parenthood Condom with a coupon for a free condom – or – four free condoms if you paid for STD and/or HIV testing.
2006, Planned Parenthood sponsored a condom art contest.
2006, Planned Parenthood offered condoms packaged like lollipops and promoted condom key chains.
2006, Planned Parenthood Michigan’s teen program held condom art workshops. “Make a beautiful creation out of condoms, find out all the facts on using condoms correctly, and get a free gift.”

Where was the CDC? Nodding, winking…and sleeping.

Promoting condoms came at a price…paid by the US taxpayers…a staggering sum of dollars handed out through government grants. One report documented over $2,000,000 divided between Planned Parenthood ($991,109) and four other organizations. Grabbing every dollar possible, the ACLU, SIECUS and 32 groups held a press conference designed to stop funding of abstinence programs.

Promoting condoms, finally a national pastime, left little money or incentive for the government to deliver another message to teens…abstain from sex. In fact, messages that encouraged sexual abstinence for teens were mocked. In extreme outbursts of hostility, legislators even accused abstinence programs of “killing teens.”

The CDC? Nodding, winking…and sleeping.

Ironically, as king of the SAFE SEX condom campaign, Planned Parenthood failed the condom tests performed by Consumer Reports Magazine. Of the 23 condoms tested, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Honeydew and Assorted Colors condoms scored the worst. Not taking this lying down, Planned Parenthood submitted their condoms to “independent testing.” Anyone surprised that Planned Parenthood then proclaimed their condoms “excellent”?

Condoms made us feel safe. Our sex was safe. Protected. We were protected…and safe! Heart Flying

At a college presentation on Valentine’s Day, a young man stood at the front of the crowded auditorium, raised his right hand and spoke for all Americans, “I pledge allegiance to the condom.”

Now, finally, twenty years after HIV struck America…

Finally, sitting on the plane bound for Miami, I read the national story on condoms again and closed my eyes in gratitude. “Finally,” I told myself, “someone is paying attention to the truth about condoms. The press is finally reporting on the medical truths about condoms.”

The CDC? It blinked, shook its head…and woke up. Finally.

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NEXT WEEK: The CDC: Dereliction of Duty, Part 3, The Truth about Condoms…Finally!

LAST WEEK: The CDC: Dereliction of Duty, Part 1

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Copyright 2004-2014. All Rights Reserved

The CDC: Dereliction of Duty, Pt 1

June 5, 2014

We have much to thank the CDC for! It is on the forefront of many health battles. CDC medical teams even risk their own lives, rushing to the aid of victims around the world, most recently fighting the Ebola virus.

But…there is one health threat that suffers from the failure of the CDC to be truthful with the American people. We are suffering. And the CDC is worse than silent…the CDC ignores and silences expert voices and research that could protect us.

It is hard to imagine the CDC Ostrich Run actually putting the health of people at risk. For years, we watched the CDC run from one threat to the next: drugs, tobacco, polio, small pox. We learned to trust the CDC. That was before the sexual revolution and…

…the discovery of AIDS. The AIDS epidemic officially began on June 5, 1981, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report newsletter reported unusual clusters of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in five homosexual men in Los Angeles. Over the next 18 months, more PCP clusters were discovered among otherwise healthy men in cities throughout the country.

Ostrich Halt The CDC was stopped dead in its tracks. It scrambled to identify the HIV/AIDS connection and its methods of transmission and treatment, as people worried about “catching” the HIV virus. Every human activity was originally suspect: drinking cups, sharing straws, kissing, open cuts, mosquito bites, injections…and of course…sexual activity. Without the Internet, information followed slowly on the trail blazed by gossip and greased by fear.

Perhaps no one more clearly tells the story of AIDS in the early days than Ryan White, an engaging, fun-loving young teen who eventually died of AIDS. In December, 1984, over four years after the first American incidence of AIDS came to light, Ryan White was diagnosed with AIDS. Up to this point, the disease had largely been associated with the male gay community. White suffered from hemophilia, and was infected with HIV from a contaminated blood transfusion.

White became an instant poster child for AIDS. Clearly, he was an innocent victim. Nevertheless, he was expelled from his middle school, triggering a lengthy court battle and thrusting him into the international spotlight. Through the courage of White and his family, America and the world began to sift through all of the fears about AIDS and separate fact from fiction.

By now, the CDC had lost its grip on the messaging for AIDS. Ostrich Run Running from one public relations crisis to the next, the CDC forgot its ultimate foundational role as the defender of public health. Instead of demanding that public bath houses, a known haven for promiscuous gay sex, the CDC decided to make certain they focused on reassuring the American people that they were not in danger of infection. The key to health, according to the CDC, was protection. Protect Yourself! Wrestling coaches were told to stop the match if a student got cut. They were given medical latex gloves to wipe blood off the wrestling mat. Meanwhile, parents were reassured…yes…the family could safely share eating utensils.

Everything was spelled out by the CDC: clean needles for drug users, latex gloves for classroom teachers, face masks for dentists. Quit worrying about the mosquitoes. Every area of life was managed for protecting the public from HIV…every area but one. What is missing from this discussion?

One can almost feel sorry for the CDC. The sexual revolution had been in full swing for more than twenty years, reinforced with birth control, drugs and alcohol. Sex was everywhere…because it was FREE.

Americans had grown used to their FREE SEX. The CDC was caught in a social trap. AIDS was clearly driven by sexual activity. They could tell Americans to give up their free “right” to have sex with whomever and whenever. Or they could…

Well, … options were slim. One thing was certain. We had an AIDS epidemic on our hands. AIDS Stop Hand The CDC squinted its eyes and surveyed the American scene. People expected them to do one thing…above all…Stop Aids. How could the CDC stop AIDS without having to stop sex?

NEXT WEEK…CDC: DERELICTION of DUTY, Pt. 2

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Copyright 2004-2014. All Rights Reserved

The CDC: Does Medical Accuracy Matter Anymore?

May 29, 2014

FLASH sex education is coming to save Arizona children! Imported from the state of Washington, FLASH is sold as a trustworthy source of information for teaching sex.

Curious about FLASH, I took to the Internet. Wow! Double Wow!!

As expected, FLASH teaches condoms. But it doesn’t stop there…

**Dental Dams**

Think we’re talking about a trip to the dentist? In a sex education lesson – dental dams? Not a chance.

Students in high school…sophomores…are taught to cut a latex condom with scissors to make a dental dam…for use in having oral sex. Does this make you ask even one question? Even one?

What about “medical accuracy?” How in the world would a dental dam prevent STDs for people engaging in oral sex? So I asked. I asked the Director of Health Education in Washington. And I asked the Centers for Disease Control, the CDC.

What is the medically accurate truth about dental dams? Read on…

May 10
To: CDCInfo@cdc.gov
Subject: Dental Dams STI

Question: Your fact sheet on Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) recommends “using latex condoms and dental dams the right way every time you have sex” in order to “avoid getting PID.” Please refer me to the science-based studies that give evidence on the efficacy of dental dams for prevention of PID.

Thank you, Jane Jimenez

May 14
Good Morning Ms. Jimenez,

Thank you for your inquiry. Below is the response from our subject matter expert.

Oral sex is a common sexual practice and may serve as a route of transmission for Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis, causative organisms of PID. Generally, the use of a physical barrier, such as a dental dam, during oral sex can reduce the risk of transmission of HIV and other STDs. Please see the references in attached articles for possible supporting evidence supporting effectiveness of dental dams in prevention of STDs:

Do women use dental dams? Safer sex practices of lesbians and other women who have sex with women
Sexual practices and dental dam use among women prisoners – a mixed methods study

I hope this helps to answer your question.
Public Inquiries, Division of STD Prevention

Inkwell Black Short

May 14
To: dstd2@CDC.gov
Dear “Public Inquiries,”

Thank you for sending the two studies named above related to dental dams. However, I am at a loss as to how to use them as scientific proof of the claim on your Pelvic Inflammatory Disease [PID] – CDC Fact Sheet [which states]:

You can prevent PID if you know how to protect yourself.
You can protect yourself from getting PID by

— Not having sex;

— Being in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and has negative STD test results;

— Using latex condoms and dental dams the right way every time you have sex. [bold added]

I am also alarmed that this CDC Fact Sheet is being used by educators and curricula around the country to promote recommendations to adolescents on sexual practices that appear to have no verifiable efficacy.

In brief, neither of these two studies you provided me has any bearing on the efficacy of using dental dams for prevention of STDs:

The studies admit in their own reports that there is “no research evidence” to support the CDC Fact Sheet claim…there is no research evidence supporting the use of dental dams or their effectiveness in preventing HIV transmission. [emphasis added]

The two studies involve 1) a lesbian population and 2) a women’s prison population, where lesbian sex is implied if not stated. Heterosexual activity is only incidental in the surveys.

The two populations studied have no bearing on the U.S. general population at large, even less so on the U.S. general adolescent student sub-population.

The studies involve self-reporting interviews & surveys of lesbian subjects regarding their sexual behaviors without any correlation to medical studies on incidence rates of STDs, much less any attempt to prove a reduction in the incidence of STD infections and a correlation of such a reduction with use of dental dams.

Studies make use of terms that have no scientific definition or rationale. For example, appropriate as barrier protection, is supposedly studied during the course of one study without any quantifiable or valid justification for the word “appropriate” related to use of dental dams.

No medical exams of study participants are ever done to identify STD infections present before, during or after the interviews or sexual encounters. No STD data of any kind is presented.

Certainly, the CDC must appreciate the implications of CDC claims about sexual behaviors and their risks related to STDs and pregnancy. It is hard to imagine the CDC claim regarding dental dams would be made with only these two studies as backup.

This is a serious issue in light of the thousands of students who will be taught to rely on dental dams contrary to any scientific research that supports the CDC claim. This CDC Fact Sheet puts the health of young people and others at risk.

This is of utmost and immediate importance. Our local school district is constructing their sex education program to be presented next year to over 13,000 students. The recommendation of dental dams is in their current working draft.

Please give me the name of the CDC individual responsible for the information on the CDC Fact Sheet and how to reach them.

Sincerely, Jane Jimenez

May 23, 2014
Good Morning Ms. Jimenez,

Thank you for your insight into the content of the PID fact sheet. We appreciate your feedback and are currently reviewing the literature. We will promptly update the fact sheet accordingly. Once again, thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

Public Inquiries
Division of STD Prevention

Uh, um, uh, duh, soooo…..

Tick, tock, tick, tock…

I’m waiting…

You’re waiting…we’re all waiting…

For just a little medical accuracy…

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Follow the Money

“Follow the money,” was the memorable quote from All the President’s Men. Deep Throat advised Bob Woodward that the key to understanding the Watergate mystery was the money.

May 6, 2013

Jane Jimenez

Sex is a big industry in America. Forget pornography. Don’t even consider prostitution.

Leaving them aside, the sex industry permeates every detail of our life in America. If you want to understand much of the cultural war dealing with issues between the sexes, you will do well to understand the influence business has…and wants to have…in helping to shape our sexual ethics…and actions.

We can each make a short list of the more obvious and visible business profit motives:

Cher, Madonna and Lady Gaga, their music, their dress, and their public behaviors.
Abercrombie and Fitch advertising campaigns featuring groups of half-dressed teens suggestively staged together in group hugs.
Abercrombie for Kids and its line of underwear for young girls with the sayings “Wink Wink” and “Eye Candy” screenprinted on them.
Publishers who fight for the right to publish Fifty Shades of Grey as a trilogy. One story, three opportunities to profit. Anyone want to predict Son of Fifty Shades?

But the most pernicious profits made in shaping the sexual ethics of our culture are made in industries you would not immediately think of. These profits are pernicious because of the lies needed to cultivate and protect sexual products and habits that hurt men and women.

Consider the world of medicine. In the purest sense, doctors, hospitals and drugs are supposed to serve the needs of people. They are supposed to preserve and restore health. For the most part, they do this job well.

But when health is tied to sexual behaviors, we enter a new realm where free sex becomes a direct path to free money. As sexual behavior has exploded in our culture, so have profits.

The first wave of profits washed up on America’s shore with the introduction in 1960 of “the Pill”. The key to liberation of human sexual behavior, Enovid manufactured by G.D.Searle was first introduced “for the benefit of married women” to help them “plan their pregnancies.” By the end of 1961, 132 reports of thrombosis and embolism were filed, reports that included 11 deaths.

Approved as “safe and effective,” Enovid sales continued, as evidence of its dangers was shelved. Barbara Seaman dedicated her career as a reporter to finding the evidence…by following the money…digging into reports, interviewing doctors and women, and attending hearings.

Evidence existed to indict the pill. But, as Seaman remembers, “[it] was scattered in the international medical literature, was difficult to interpret, and was obscured by a mantle of ‘diplomatic immunity’ granted the pill in response to fears of unchecked population growth.” Seaman dogged the industry and compiled her evidence into an expose, The Doctors’ Case Against the Pill.

In the 25^th Anniversary Edition, Updated, feminist Gloria Steinem puts Seaman on a well-deserved pedestal. “Barbara Seaman is the first prophet of the women’s health movement and The Doctors’ Case Against the Pill is a prophecy that is still coming true. By alerting us to the dangers of the high dose contraceptive pill, Seaman won drug labeling for all health consumers. This 25^th anniversary edition takes that model of empowerment into the future.”

That was just what Seaman had wanted. “My goal was to pull together all the evidence on side effects, dramatize (or melodramatize) it as much as possible, and issue a plea for women’s informed consent.” With her book, women would finally get the truth they deserved: their “safe and effective” pill had ”over 50 potential side effects…linked to infertility, breast cancer, menstrual irregularities, and emotional disturbances.”

Money…lies…profits…this is a recipe for the kind of success some people think is fair game. In his book Adverse Reactions, author Thomas Maeder, reveals the philosophy of Harry Loynd, once a president of Parke-Davis. Loynd’s motto, loudly touted, was, “Pills are to sell, not to take.” At sales meetings he boasted, “If we put horse manure in a capsule, we could sell it to 95 percent of these doctors.”

After 25 years, Seaman got praise from Gloria Steinem. But in 1969, when The Doctors’ Case Against the Pill was published, Seaman suffered severe financial and legal attacks. Planned Parenthood, in conjunction with drug industry companies, raised $100,000 for an injunction, attempting to kill publication of the book.

When Seaman’s book did hit the shelves, drug companies then killed her magazine connections. Drug ad executives approached publishers with a do-or-die offer. “Corporation X is launching a seven-and-a half-million-dollar campaign for its new diaper-rash ointment.” Your magazine is our first choice for these ad dollars…except… “on the editorial side you have an individual [Seaman] who is hurting sales of our most important prescription drug.”

What was at stake? For the women of America, their lives were at risk. For drug companies, it was profits. By 1969, an estimated 12 to 15 million women were taking the pill. At a time when teacher salaries were less than ten thousand, profits from the annual sale of more than 15 million pill bottles was a lot of money. It still is.

The Doctors’ Case Against the Pill remains a riveting story about the David and Goliath size battle. One fiercely determined woman wins against multi-million dollar corporations and their greed, lies and deceit.

In the 60’s, the contraceptive pill was an entirely new product. Since then, the pill has spawned a whole arsenal of drugs and practices that promise us “free sex”: Norplant, Depo Provera, emergency contraception, Plan B, abortion, Gardasil, and more…much more.

Think Seaman’s book has ended the stream of lies that conceal dangers to women and men related to our sexual practices? Hardly. The lies…and truth…are out there. Just look for the money…and follow it.

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April 29, 2013: Lies, Lies and Damned Lies

STAY CONNECTED…

From the Home Front is committed to shining the light on truth,exposing lies and deceit. Future columns will address the full extent of the profiteering by companies promoting the “safe sex” message and culture.