State Film to Promote Chastity
Gov. Deukmejian is afraid of the birds and the bees. By canceling production of two sex education films, his Administration has again decided that ignorance is the best social remedy for unintended pregnancies, and that kowtowing to special interest groups is the safest political hide-out.
The governor’s decision cements his identification with anti-abortion zealots who oppose even information on birth control and abortion. These people believe that knowledge about birth control results in moral deterioration such as frank discussion of sexual intimacy.
The governor is out of step with the majority of Californians. At least he uses the wrong dictionary. Birth control, sex education, and abortion are neither dirty words nor dirty practices. It’s words like censorship, ignorance, and fanaticism that we have to fear and fight against.
JO ELLEN PASMAN
Santa Monica
Pasman is executive director of California Abortion Rights Action League-South.
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