Opinion: Misdirected Energies Hinder CDC

"In the aftermath of the anthrax attacks and with the specter of smallpox looming on the horizon, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention appear poorly prepared to handle the threat of bioterrorism. This is no small charge, and perhaps that is why Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson quickly responded to the requests of members of Congress and various public policy organizations, including the Family Research Council, when they requested he investigate CDC operations.

"The problem is that the CDC has been concentrating on other things. Things that are, admittedly, sexier than bioterrorism. . . . Indeed, the CDC seems to be almost obsessed with sex. First, there is the curious view at CDC that pregnancy is a disease.

". . . Second, CDC is consumed with halting the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Stopping sexually transmitted diseases is certainly a reasonable goal. In pursuit of it, why not promote abstinence from sex until marriage? Few married people who are faithful to their spouses complain of STDs.

"Alas, that's far too simplistic for a great bureaucracy such as the CDC. Officials of the giant agency take for granted that people -- especially young people -- cannot control their sexual urges.

". . . Since abstinence is deemed impractical, safe sex has become CDC's watchword. But its approach to making sex safer couldn't be nuttier. Consider the following approaches funded by the CDC:

• Provocative advertisements in San Francisco aimed at young gay men. 'Learn to write racy stories about your sexual encounters, choose toys for "solo and partner sex."' This is supposed to stop the spread of AIDS? . . .
• Eight billboards in St. Louis featured two shirtless men in an intimate embrace; another showed only a condom. The ads urged people to be tested for AIDS, but the mayor of St. Louis was so outraged he demanded they be taken down -- and they were.

"All of these ads violate CDC guidelines that say none of the agency's AIDS prevention programs should encourage sexual activity. The increase in the incidence of HIV infection in targeted cities, however, suggests that the CDC's campaigns are either encouraging young people to have sex, or they are having no effect at all in stopping the spread of HIV. Either way, the taxpayers are getting shortchanged."

The author is an attorney and president of the Family Research Council, a lobbying organization that opposes abortion and gay rights.

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