Kaiser Updates

Via Kaiser:
AFP/Yahoo! News on Monday examined Kenya's teen pregnancy rate and the lack of sex education in the country. According to a 2003 study, 25% of Kenyan girls and women ages 15 to 19 are either pregnant or have children, and 85% of girls and women ages 15 to 19 and 72% of women ages 20 to 24 do not use contraceptives. In addition, 70% of all adolescents in the country engage in unprotected sex, according to the study. While a lack of sex education is "blamed" for many teen pregnancies in Kenya, traditions that inhibit discussions between parents and children about sex also play a role, AFP/Yahoo! News reports. According to AFP/Yahoo! News, schools in Kenya lack sex education curricula despite "growing campaigns" to curb HIV/AIDS transmission and sexually transmitted infections, (courtesy of King George's ideology, of course) and only 12% of the country's health facilities have "youth-friendly" policies.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt (R) on Tuesday signed into law a bill (HB 1485) that would give a tax credit for donations to crisis pregnancy centers that do not perform abortions or refer women to clinics that perform the procedure, the Columbia Daily Tribune. The measure authorizes the state to issue a tax credit for the next six years that is worth half the value of donations between $100 and $50,000 and is limited to $2 million annually. The credit expires after four years and will be administered by the state Department of Social Services. "I believe it will allow pregnancy-resource centers to continue their very important work," Blunt said at Rachel's House, a pregnancy resource center in Lee's Summit, Mo. "These are resource centers that truly do believe that we should have a culture that values human life," he said in a LifeNews.com statement. Speaking at Open Arms Pregnancy Resource Center in Columbia, Mo., Blunt added, "I clearly believe that your money would be better spent here than at Planned Parenthood." Peter Brownlie, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said pregnancy resource centers often "bombard" women "with antiabortion propaganda" and "provide information from a very biased viewpoint and attempt to pressure women".