HICKS: ‘Stand’ against preteen sexuality

OPINION/ANALYSIS:

File this under: Unintended irony. The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) released a report Tuesday titled “Stand + Deliver: Sex, Health and Young People in the 21st Century.”

I’m guessing the title alludes to the critically acclaimed film “Stand and Deliver,” in which Edward James Olmos played a dedicated math teacher who challenges his erstwhile high school dropouts to learn calculus. In the movie, these misunderstood yet courageous young people come of age, metaphorically, as they realize their true potential.

As it happens, according to the Web site phrases.org, the phrase “stand and deliver … was used by 17th century highwaymen (robbers) in the [United Kingdom], when holding up stagecoaches.” It literally means, “Stop and give me your valuables.”

Come to think of it, given the contents of this ghastly report, the title may be apropos after all, because what the IPPF wants to do is hold our children up and steal their innocence, their childhoods and, worst of all, their sexual morality.

First, some context: The IPPF is the international umbrella for 180 Planned Parenthood organizations worldwide. Its political agenda includes population control through contraception and abortion, as well as the broad promotion of “sexual rights.”

The IPPF works closely with the United Nations and other international groups to promote social and political change in support of their views on sexuality.

Those views include seven principles of “sexual rights,” including that “Sexuality is an integral part of the personhood of every human being, for this reason a favorable environment in which everyone may enjoy all sexual rights as part of the process of development must be created” and “Sexuality, and pleasure deriving from it, is a central aspect of being human.”

The IPPF’s new report on sexuality in young people - loosely defined, but including anyone over the age of 10 - expands on these rights to include children.

That’s right. Children.

The report says, “The evolving capacities of the child include his or her physiological ability to reproduce, his or her psychological ability to make informed decisions about counseling and health care, and his or her emotional and social ability to engage in sexual behaviors in accordance with the responsibilities and roles that this entails.”

Among the recommendations the IPPF makes to governments around the globe is mandatory sexual education for children age 10 and older to include “the pleasures of sex.”

Worse, the report specifically calls out organized religions, including the Catholic Church and Islam, for promoting sexual repression.

The report puts it this way: “Young people’s sexuality is still contentious for many religious institutions. … Currently, many religious teachings deny the pleasurable and positive aspects of sex, and limited guidelines for sexual education often focus on abstinence before marriage.”

The IPPF, clearly believing sexual freedom for young people outweighs any concerns about silly things such as … oh, say … thousands of years of religious doctrine, offers up this nugget of advice:

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