Pennsylvania Department of Health Threatens to Significantly Cut Funding of Successful High School Health Resource Centers ... This Philadelphia Inquirer reports today on threats to cut funding of a unique successful sexual health program in Philidelphia high schools that has helped reduce teen pregnancies in the city by over 30% in the past decade:

Between 1995 and 2005, the number of teen girls living in the city ages 15 to 17 who became pregnant dropped by a third - from about 3,000 in 1995 to 2,000 in 2005.

Contributing to this success has been a broad range of teen pregnancy prevention efforts educating teens about reproductive health and family planning options, so they can make informed choices.

Philadelphia's is the only school district in the commonwealth with a school-based information and condom access program. Located in 13 high schools, these Health Resource Centers (HRCs) provide a confidential place where teens can receive counseling and education about abstinence, health, sexuality and contraceptive options.

While the parents of each student are given the opportunity to "opt-out" their child from receiving condoms, 99 percent of parents choose not to do so. During the last school year, 6,700 students made 32,000 visits to Health Resource Centers.

While the programs are both popular and successful the state's legislature and Gov. Ed Rendell are pushing to cut funding of the program that would force at least two of the Health Resource Centers to close immediately and in it's place seek federal funds for abstinece-only education:

The state Department of Health has decided to reduce funding by $200,000, a 40 percent cut that will result in the closure of at least two HRCs and the scaling back of related teen pregnancy prevention programs. At the same time, the administration is applying for federal funds to support abstinence-only sex education programs.

Palin's Conflicting Statements on Contraception and Sex Education ... Gov. Sarah Palin has said many times that she supports abstinence-only education in America's schools. Today opinion columns in both the Salt Lake Tribune and the Daily Iowan cheer Palin's support of her daughter's choice to have a baby at 17 years old while decrying her support for abstinence-only education policies that have been blamed for rising teen pregnancy rates.  But the LA Times has found a comment made by Palin during her 2006 campaign for governor in Alaska that indicates she may privately disagree with the party line on sex education:

In a widely quoted 2006 survey she answered during her gubernatorial campaign, Palin said she supported abstinence-until-marriage programs. But weeks later, she proclaimed herself "pro-contraception" and said condoms ought to be discussed in schools alongside abstinence.

"I'm pro-contraception, and I think kids who may not hear about it at home should hear about it in other avenues," she said during a debate in Juneau.

...

Palin's statements date to her 2006 gubernatorial run. In July of that year, she completed a candidate questionnaire that asked, would she support funding for abstinence-until-marriage programs instead of "explicit sex-education programs, school-based clinics and the distribution of contraceptives in schools?"

Palin wrote, "Yes, the explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support."

But in August of that year, Palin was asked during a KTOO radio debate if "explicit" programs include those that discuss condoms. Palin said no and called discussions of condoms "relatively benign."

"Explicit means explicit," she said. "No, I'm pro-contraception, and I think kids who may not hear about it at home should hear about it in other avenues. So I am not anti-contraception. But, yeah, abstinence is another alternative that should be discussed with kids. I don't have a problem with that. That doesn't scare me, so it's something I would support also."

Do these statements reveal an inner conflict on these issues for Palin?  She seems to want to tow the party line on abstinence-only education curriculum that refuses to teach students about contraception but then continues to express her support for dicussing the use of condoms with students and in fact said that she is "pro-contraception" at least twice during the 2006 campaign.  Hopefully Palin's views on the important issues of sex education and contraception will be further explored and defined before Americans are asked to vote to put her in the White House in November.