If you think it’s horrifying that condoms are becoming the core of public school sex education, there’s an ominous new cloud on the horizon: federal health advice to prescribe harsh drugs for some teens as a “prophylactic” to prevent HIV.
Which teens are these? While the details are still emerging, it’s most likely to be those identified as “LGBT” and sexually active.
But wait, you say. There are no such inborn identities and no teen should be encouraged in premature intimacy, nor given unnecessary medications. Yet according to new guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control, a revolutionary method of HIV prevention has been launched: take a pill. And it’s virtually certain this health recommendation will be extended from adults to teens.
Why the change? Because condoms aren’t popular and their use is in decline. One is tempted to say, “We told you so.”
HIV has been treated with anti-retroviral drug therapy (trade name Truvada) since the mid-1990s to keep those who test positive from developing full-blown AIDS. Now, a lower dose will be given to those who are don’t yet test positive but are at high risk for contracting HIV. This new regime is called “PrEP,”which stands for “pre-exposure prophylaxis.”
PrEP participants will include those in relationships with someone who is HIV positive, or who are “sexually active” and don’t intend to use condoms. This is the CDC’s latest attempt to slow the epidemic without actually having to emphasize the one thing we all know works: sexual self-restraint. One could call the PrEP protocol a “promiscuity pill.”
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