Roundup: Irish No Longer Rely on Luck to Stay Safe

by Robin Marty, RH Reality Check

February 9, 2010 - 9:18am (Print)

Students in Ireland are getting more of an opportunity to take responsibility for their own health thanks to a campaign being launched across college campuses.

The Union of Students in Ireland is promoting the idea of safer sex by handing out "sexual health awareness packs" to more than 45,000 students across the country. Calling the campaign SHAG (Sexual Health Awareness and Guidance), they hope to make it easier to discuss safe sex options.

The packs, which will be received by some 45,000 students across college campuses, will contain condoms and information on contraception.

The USI says the information provided aims to help students have safer sex and make informed decisions regarding their contraceptive choices.

“There has been a dramatic rise in the numbers of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) reported in Ireland. By running this campaign, USI want to encourage students to talk about their sexual health,” USI welfare officer Ciaran Fitzpatrick said.

“There still seems to be a taboo when it comes to talking about sex related issues. We want to break through these barriers and encourage people to practice safer sex and to look after their sexual health by getting screened for STIs,” he added.

It could still be an uphill battle for a culture that is predominantly Catholic. Many still see any sign of wavering on contraception to be tantamount to giving up their faith all together. "The Catholic Church’s consistent and unbending opposition to the contraceptive culture makes it the perennial target of promoters of the culture of death," writes a columnist for the National Catholic Register. "[T]he entire culture of death is built on the foundation of contraception..."

By ignoring the fact that contraception is about more than just stopping the creation of a baby and also includes stopping diseases that in many cases can be life threatening, you have to start to wonder if maybe the wrong side is being called "the culture of death."

Mini Roundup: Anti-choice advocates embrace the "pro-life" message of the Google Super Bowl ad, apparently assuming that the lovers never had *gasp* premarital sex. And the real problem with pro-choice men is that, well, they are wrong, according to one pro-lifer, who's next article will be "The Real Problem with Public Schools is They Teach You Verified Facts Instead of Biblical Knowledge."

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