Removing head from sand

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board is doing its part to help remove Senator Glen Grothman's and Rep. Scott Gundrum's heads from the sand with an editorial on their bills to deny teenagers access to the Healthy Women Program. They try to do this with some cold hard facts.

They start by saying that of course parents should talk to their kids about sex since teenagers are less likely to engage in it if their parents talk to them about it. But it's a sad fact that a lot of parents just don't do it. The editorial also states this:

In 2005, an average of 53,842 women were enrolled in the Healthy Women Program. In that same year, 9,170 who received at least one service under the program were ages 15 to 17.

Take that number and plug it into this study fact from the editorial:

A study in Wisconsin published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2002 concluded that, if parental notification for birth control were required, 46% of the teens surveyed would simply quit seeking family planning help but would continue having sex.

The result is thousands of teenagers pregnant or with a sexually transmitted diseases.