The Boston Herald is reporting on a story today which should outrage all of us (I’ve added bold font to the most important parts):
A state-funded sex education Web site that tells teens an abortion is “much easier than it sounds” has drawn fire from outraged pro-lifers who say mariatalks.com is glossing over ugly truths, steering teens toward the controversial procedure and counseling them how to keep mom and dad in the dark.
“The commonwealth is using taxpayer money to tell kids how to get a secret abortion, and that’s wrong,” said Linda Thayer, a former Boston schoolteacher who is vice president for educational affairs of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, which this week took aim at the site.
“This is a misuse of state funds, especially for parents who are taxpayers,” said Thayer, who also blasted the Web site for “deception by omission” for describing abortion simply as “when the contents of the womb (uterus) are removed.”
Meanwhile, the website downplays adoption:
In another segment, Maria says to Massachusetts teens, “The reality of getting an abortion is much easier than it sounds here.” In contrast, a more cautionary Maria counsels on another page that adoption “can be pretty tough for some people, especially emotionally.”
AND it tells teens how to seek an abortion without telling their parents!
Under state law, children under 18 seeking an abortion must have permission from a parent or a guardian. Maria notes that state law allows minors to skirt that approval through a confidential judicial hearing, saying, “I know it sounds crazy . . . this really can be done and young women do this all the time here in Massachusetts.”
And guess where the website directs these teens to have their underage abortion? Yep, you guessed it – Planned Parenthood:
The site then directs teens to Planned Parenthood, saying that agency will either help them talk to parents or provide a lawyer to guide them through the judicial process.
NARAL Pro-Choice America Executive Director Andrea Miller called Maria Talks “terrific.”
This deceptive outreach which places teens at risk isn’t just a website, the news story goes on to report that local high schools have “Maria Talks” posters hanging in their nurse’s offices.
In other words, when vulnerable teens in high school become pregnant in Massachusetts, Planned Parenthood is happy to have their parents’ taxpayer dollars funding campaigns that take parents out of the picture, limit the options teens are given (especially adoption), and coaches them on how to have an abortion without even telling them what abortion is!
NARAL and Planned Parenthood should condemn this abusive use of our money which spreads false information and puts young teens in serious risk.
