Nevada Agency's Abstinence Ad Pulled From Radio

Nevada's Health Division has pulled a public service radio announcement that suggested teenage girls will feel "dirty and cheap" if they have sex with their boyfriends. Health Division spokesperson Martha Framstad said the radio spot was suspended because the language was not appropriate for the 9- to 14-year old girls the agency wanted to reach. The ad was broadcast as recently as last Thursday during a break in the Howard Stern radio show, which is broadcast in Reno and Las Vegas.

Greg Bortolin, spokesperson for Gov. Kenny Guinn, said Monday he thought the ad had been pulled last month. He said he and Marybel Batjer, Guinn's chief of staff, had discussions then with Yvonne Sylva, Health Division administrator, to express concerns about the message.

"We were concerned about how the ad was received by listeners," Bortolin said. "If another ad is aired, it hopefully will be less offensive to people. We probably should have been more sensitive."

The ad to encourage girls to abstain from sex until marriage was developed with part of a $157,000 grant from the federal Child and Maternal Health Agency. Jessica Cowee, abstinence-only coordinator for the Health Division, wrote the message. The Health Division had to match the federal funding with $118,000 in order to get the grant. The grant did not require radio advertisements. Nevada agreed to pay $5,000 a month to the Nevada Association of Broadcasters to air the ad, but NAB agreed to donate most of the broadcast costs.

Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union had complained about the message, particularly about the "dirty and cheap" line, when the ad was first broadcast in early August.

Framstad said her agency is developing a new announcement more in line with the language and thoughts of 9- to 14-year-olds. This ad may be broadcast as early as next week. Plans to run an abstinence ad on television have been dropped.

Back to other news for September 18, 2003