The American Medical Association reportedly backed the
distribution of free condoms for teenagers and approved a report
stating that “free distribution of condoms was more successful at
combating the problem of teenage sexual activity than school-based
abstinence-only programs” (despite the fact that the AMA later
admitted that the data on which their recommendation was based is
“sparse”).
In an article written by Dr. Laura Schlessinger,
she talks about an article written in her local newspaper in which
the American Medical Association reportedly backed the distribution
of free condoms for teenagers. The article stated that, “delegates
to the American Medical Association’s policy-making body approved a
report in which researchers said free distribution of condoms was
more successful at combating the problem of teenage sexual activity
than school-based abstinence-only programs.” The recommendation of
this report passed without comment from the 500 members of the House
of Delegates at its interim meeting. However, doctors who make up
the Consortium of State Physicians Resource Councils found two main
problems with the report. First, its conclusions seriously
compromise primary prevention as the accepted medical model. Second,
the AMA report admits that the data on which the recommendation is
based are “sparse,” both in terms of abstinence-only programs and
so-called safe-sex programs. The AMA report also acknowledges that
“the findings on safer-sex programs are inconsistent. The number one
sexually transmitted disease in HPV, venereal warts, and it is NOT
prevented by condom use. HPV is also linked to 90% of all invasive
cervical cancers in women.1
1AMA
Backs Free Condoms for Teenagers,
Schlessinger, Dr. Laura, January 2000, pg. 1.
