Not If It's Legitimate Rape

Today's post is my commentary on an article published by The Telegraph today, entitled "Republican congressman: 'legitimate rape' does not cause pregnancies".

According to US Representative Todd Akin, "the female body has ways of trying to shut that whole thing down" if a woman has become pregnant following a "legitimate rape". Although he does not explain how a woman's body can tell the difference, he does claim to have gleaned this understanding of the female body from "doctors".

So there you have it folks, from a man who knows all about these things thanks to "doctors". Our bodies can just "shut the whole thing down" if we females become pregnant via "legitimate rape".

PHEW!

I guess we don't need access to safe, legal abortion after all. Who would've thought it could be so easy?

*Post-publishing addition: Still confused about what "legitimate" rape is? This article on Jezebel.com should help clear things up for you, and also highlight the ongoing idiocy of some (sadly) powerful and influential people. To me, this statement says it all:

[box]

Excerpt from The Official Guide to Legitimate Rape:

Let's stop differentiating between different types of rape as if they were different flavors at an ice cream shop. Politicians need to get over the pervasive fear that adopting a zero-tolerance attitude towards rape means that people will be able to disingenuously "cry rape" if they're having a bad day. That's not going to happen. You know what's way more dangerous? Allowing legislators like Akin to make declarative statements that are unarguably false. If you don't know how basic biology works, you shouldn't be able to hold a government position that gives you real power over the bodies of millions of women.

Sure, it would be a hell of a lot easier if uteri were able to define rape for us. But they can't, and it's insane to pretend otherwise.
[/box]



And there's also this great post, from PsychCentral.com, which talks about the actual statistics surrounding rape and pregnancy: Rep. Todd Akin, Abortion and Rape

Thank You

This flyer arrived in my inbox today and I wanted my blog to be the first place I share it. After all, my nomination for an Ontario College's Premier's Award is thanks to Sex Ed Central's ongoing growth and success.

It is an honour to be nominated for such a prestigious award and I am grateful to many special family members and friends for their never-ending love, encouragement and support. Of course, thank you to my readers, followers and supporters for being part of this awesome journey. And thank you to Georgian College for this wonderful recognition!

Wish me luck at the Gala in November!

Candice :)

P.S. Thank you to Analyzed Marketing Solutions for taking care of all of my web needs!

 

The Benefits of Contraception

I'm a big-time advocate for contraception. There's been study after study and article after article demonstrating the positive effects birth control has on the lives of both women and men. But rather than make you read about all the facts and statistics around birth control, I'm opting to share a video with you instead.

This video from the Guttmacher Institute arrived in my inbox not so long ago, and I was so impressed that I wanted to share it with the world! So world, here's your opportunity to learn about how awesome birth control really is. Although this video uses American statistics, the benefits are the same for women everywhere.

Enjoy!
Candice



[box]

Related Links:

Hormonal Birth Control Options

Non-Hormonal Birth Control Options

Birth Control: You Have Options - 1

Birth Control: You Have Options - 2

Pregnancy & Contraception

Declines in US Teen Births

[/box]

The end of HIV in BC?

Medical experts in BC are taking a new approach to reducing the spread of HIV, by testing everyone who has ever been sexually active.

Personally, I think it's refreshing to see a new approach to reducing the spread of HIV. What do you think?

[box]

B.C. aims to end HIV/AIDS with widespread testing

Source: CBC News

Medical experts in B.C. are seeking to have every person in the province who has ever been sexually active tested for HIV/AIDS, saying the initiative could be "the beginning of the end" of the disease.

Key to the strategy is a test that can reveal in less than one minute whether or not someone is HIV-positive, which was demonstrated at a Vancouver medical conference Wednesday.

"Everybody should be tested,” said Ken Buchanan, of the advocacy group Positive Living BC. “Obviously, the people in more high risk situations should be tested more often, but everybody should be tested."

One of the leading experts in the province, Dr. Julio Montaner, says the widespread testing will lead to a very big result.

"Elimination of HIV is possible,” said Montaner, Director of B.C.'s Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.

New data shows that recent initiatives to offer all B.C. hospital patients an AIDS test resulted in one per cent of those tested finding out they're HIV-positive.

Montaner said that extrapolating those statistics to the entire B.C. population could mean there are another 3,500 people in the province who are HIV-positive and don’t yet know it.

A new advertising campaign also revealed at the conference declares that the testing initiative could be "the beginning of the end of HIV."

One goal of the campaign is to counter the fear of an HIV-positive result that scares many away from getting tested.

"HIV still carries a stigma of fear or shame. It doesn’t have the cache or heroism or struggle that's associated with other conditions," said Scott Harrison, Program Director, Urban Health, HIV/AIDS, at Providence Health Care.

But Buchanan noted that more people might be willing to get tested if the process is improved.

"People aren't made aware when they are testing who is going to get that information. And we are also concerned with adequate, pre-test counselling," he said.

Montaner acknowledges that mandatory testing is not an option, but hopes the public will voluntarily join the campaign —especially because 99 per cent of the test results will be negative.

[/box]

Mmmm concrete

This has nothing whatsoever to do with sex or sex ed or sexuality or ... well, you get the picture.

While going through my YouTube account I was reminded of this video of myself at the Eiffel Tower, during my trip to Europe in 2008. It's a fun video and it makes me laugh every time I watch it, so I thought I'd share!

Enjoy!


- Candice :)

Reducing the risk of HIV

You may have already heard that the US FDA has recently approved a new drug to fight the spread of HIV. Clinical trials of Truvada have shown that the drug can be effective in reducing the transmission of HIV. This is, of course, great news in terms of slowing the transmission of the virus.

That said, there are so many factors involved in HIV transmission and prevention, and it's difficult to say exactly how Truvada might actually impact transmission rates. For one, it's expensive, at nearly $14,000 per year. When you consider who is at highest risk for HIV, those people are not likely to have an extra $14k sitting around for this drug. While financial aid is available to those who are HIV+ it is not offered to those testing negative (aka the target market for this drug).

Secondly, trials have shown that it's most effective if taken daily ... and medication compliance isn't exactly a "for sure" thing at the best of times. The article I read stated that even study participants struggled with taking the drug every day. Factor in real life and who knows what the numbers might actually be.

HIV is a complicated virus and has proven to be very good at adapting to its environment ... and becoming resistant to drugs used to treat it. The same could happen with Truvada, if taken by people who are already HIV+. This is yet another potential roadblock. Although people are required to be tested for HIV prior to taking Truvada, there's still the risk of someone being tested before HIV antibodies are detectable in their bloodstream. This means that someone can be taking Truvada but actually be HIV+, which would increase the risk of the virus developing a resistance to Truvada.

Overall, it's a hesitant step, but a step forward nonetheless! Fingers crossed that this drug lives up to its potential and makes a dent in the approximately 50,000 new cases of HIV in the US every year.

[box]

Source:

FDA approves drug to reduce HIV risk (Boston Herald).

Recommended Reads:

Washington Post: FDA approves Gilead Science's Truvada as first drug to reduce risk of sexually acquired HIV

Sex Ed Central: HIV/AIDS

[/box]

Back to the OYC

It has been far too long since I've sat down to enjoy the pleasure of writing. I've missed this!

So, to catch you up on my world ...

Mark and I moved into our new home on Canada Day and have been busy unpacking and settling in. On Friday the house was hit by lightening, which has definitely been a challenging experience. We are now in the process of replacing the luxuries destroyed by the hit ... not to mention anxiously awaiting the repair of our a/c as we hit record temperatures today.

However, this post isn't about our new home (more on that soon!) ... it's about the following announcement:

I am pleased to say that I will be facilitating a workshop tomorrow night at the Orillia Youth Centre. If you haven't been following me for long, you may not know that the OYC is where I "started out" with workshops. I am excited to head back there for some thorough and honest discussion with the youth. We'll be talking about STIs and contraception ... as well as whatever topics come up! If you're in the area, you should stop by and check it out tomorrow (July 18) at 5pm!

I'll let you know how the workshop goes!

Candice :)