Posted on 06/30/2005 6:44:11 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
TRENTON, N.J. -- Birth-control advocates and detractors want to find out the effectiveness of condoms to determine whether labels on the contraceptive packaging should be changed.
On one side are abstinence proponents, including a senator who is blocking the appointment of a new federal drug agency chief until the labels are changed. On the other side are "safe sex" advocates who fear label changes could undermine confidence in condoms and increase the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Condoms are effective against the AIDS virus, but data for their effectiveness against some other STDs is surprisingly sparse.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Do people really read the labels on condom packages?
I once asked the owner of the video store I used to rent videos at, who was openly gay and very candid, if he knew that a partner he was about to have sex with had aids, would he go ahead and have sex with him with a condom?
His response was.... "No f**k** way!" Nuff said.
The pregnancy rate of an average couple using condoms is 6% per year in the ideal world...but among teenagers and most other groups, it is 30% per year...
Translation: If your teenager uses condoms, she will get pregnant in three years.
Now, if that is true for sperm (which are killed also by the spermaticide in the lubricant of the condom), what is the HIV rate?
In hemophiliac couples, i.e. where the man got HIV from hemophiliac transfusions, it is quite low: About ten percent per year.
However, one suspects it is higher in gay couples.
And in Africa, where condoms deteriorate with the heat, it is higher (although I suspect much of the HIV there is also spread thru poorly sterilized needles and knives)...
Condom Warning: Failure to follow instructions could result in 18 yrs of responsibility.
What would you reccomend, instead?
Actually, I read that the 15 percent INCLUDES people who don't ALWAYS use them.
Hard to be effective when you don't actually use them all the time.
Oh. no wonder I needed bifocals at 40.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Find yourself a FRiend.........
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.