Abortion and Breast Cancer

Adolescent and School Health | Programs That Work

Facts about Condoms and Their Use in Preventing HIV Infection [Spanish version]

>>> US Rep. Henry Waxman and several of his colleagues have written a letter, dated 21 Oct 2002, to Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services, to complain about info-cleansing on federal Websites. Specifically, they charge that controversial health information is being erased because it conflicts with the Bush Administration's moral stances.

[read the letter (Acrobat format)]

At one point in their letter, the Congressmen charge:

On the NIH website, information has been removed discussing scientific findings of the National Cancer Institute that, contrary to popular myth, abortions do not increase the risk of breast cancer. On July 9, 2002, a bipartisan group of congressional representatives wrote to you seeking an explanation for the removal and asking that you contact the NIH to have this information re-posted. We agree with those members, who wrote to you that "women must have access to scientifically accurate and unbiased health information." To date, they have received no reply.

Apparently, this Webpage on abortion and breast cancer has been restored and is again available here. Just in case it disappears again, though, The Memory Hole is archiving a copy here.

The Congressmen further charge:

In at least two cases, scientific information has also been removed from the CDC website. First, information concerning educational programs that have been shown through scientific studies to be effective in reducing risky behavior among adolescents has been taken down from the website. At the request of schools, the CDC created a web page, called "Programs That Work," to identify for educators "curricula with credible evidence of effectiveness in reducing health risk behaviors among young people...to help inform local and state choices." The website did not recommend any particular program, instead stating that "the choice to adopt a curriculum ultimately rests with local decision makers and must address community standards and needs." Yet despite this objective, science-based approach, the entire "Programs That Work" page has been eliminated.

Indeed, Google shows a page called "Adolescent and School Health | Programs That Work" at the CDC Website, but when you go to it, you're told: "Sorry, We didn't find what you were looking for." Google does have a cached version, but it isn't old enough to give any useful information. Instead, it states that the whole Programs That Work idea has been scrapped. Yes indeedy, the last thing we want are programs that actually work.

Luckily, the Internet Archive contains a copy of the dearly departed Programs That Work section of the site. It's available here. The Memory Hole has made a copy of this section, and if it is erased from the Internet Archive, we will mirror it.

Not every trace of Programs That Work has been eradicated for the CDC site, though. Some detailed pages that deal with HIV-awareness programs for young people still survive on the site, probably because they're discussed in a section not labeled "Programs That Work" (bureaucrats make lousy censors--they have the mindset for it, but they're too lazy to expunge material properly). The programs are as follows:

Be Proud! Be Responsible! [CDC] [The Memory Hole]
Reducing the Risk [CDC] [The Memory Hole]
Intensive AIDS Education in Jail [CDC] [The Memory Hole]
Get Real about AIDS 1992 [CDC] [The Memory Hole]
StreetSmart [CDC] [The Memory Hole]
Focus on Kids [CDC] [The Memory Hole]
Becoming a Responsible Teen (BART) [CDC] [The Memory Hole]
AIDS Community Demonstration Projects [CDC] [The Memory Hole]

The lawmakers further write:

Second, fact sheets regarding the effectiveness of condoms have been removed from your website. These fact sheets which were based on an NIH working group report stated the following: "Latex condoms, when used consistently and correctly are highly effective in preventing transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In addition, consistent and correct use of latex condoms can reduce the risk of other sexually transmitted diseases...[and]...has been associated with reduction in risk of HPV-associated diseases, such as cervical cancer." Having evidence-based information on preventing pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases is critical to the health of our young people. Removal of this information from the website strongly strongly suggests an ideological, rather than scientific, agenda at work.

Correct. If you try to go to the page titled "Facts about Condoms and Their Use in Preventing HIV Infection," you're met with the terse message: "Being Revised."

However, using our good friend, the Internet Archive, we were able to recover this bit of sex ed that Bush doesn't want you to see. It's available here, and The Memory Hole's copy is here.

The Sex Police even remembered to yank the Spanish version of this factsheet. Have no fear, amigos, this too is available from the Internet Archive and The Memory Hole.

Thanks to Don Limbaugh for pointing this out.

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