By Pat Centner
Pay a visit to certain portions of Aetna Insurance's InteliHealth website, and you're likely to learn more than you bargained for. What is found there will likely surprise and anger many parents who are attempting to teach their teens the value of sexual abstinence before marriage.
An AFA supporter's phone call led AFA Journal to investigate InteliHealth's Pregnancy Guide, which is available both online and through the mail. The caller indicated she was offended at what she perceived to be a promotion of abortion to teenage girls.
In the Pregnancy Guide, a section titled “Alternatives to Parenthood” speaks to unplanned pregnancies (obviously aimed at teens) and offers the options of abortion and adoption.
Under “Abortion,” an unwed mother-to-be who feels she “cannot talk with [her] parents” about the pregnancy, or “just [doesn't] want to,” is prompted to speak with a judge, doctor, social worker or other health professional for advice.
This not only leaves parents completely out of the picture, but blatantly fails to mention clergy or other family members as additional sources of help for the pregnant teen. She is directed by the website to contact Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest provider of abortions. (See “Abortion Business Thriving,” below)
A deeper search of the website revealed what many parents would deem extremely inappropriate information concerning the subject of birth control. From the “Birth Control” page, a link to “Safe Sex” reveals obvious acceptance of oral and anal sex, which are purported to be 80% to 95% safe with condom use. Particularly startling are detailed instructions for lesbians concerning the use of “dental dams,” and exactly where they should be placed on the genitals for supposed effective protection.
All this is despite the fact that on the same web page, Aetna reports an estimated 15.3 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) each year. Even sadder is the fact that Aetna ignores a two-year-old study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), stating that condoms are useless in preventing some serious STDs.
Although Aetna registers a caveat that their link to InteliHealth information is for informational purposes only, and that they do not endorse InteliHealth products or services, the name of the division is still “Aetna InteliHealth.” In addition, a search of other online health insurance companies and HMOs reveals no such obvious and detailed promotion concerning the above subjects.
Abortion Business Thriving
A recent article written by Ed Szymkowiak of STOPP International, a pro-life project of American Life League, includes some staggering statistics on the number of babies aborted by Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), and the profits made as a result of those procedures.
In its 2001-2002 Annual Report, PPFA states that it performed 213,026 abortions in 2001, an 8.1% increase over the previous year. From 1977 through 2001, PPFA has reported 3,019,559 abortions. This figure does not include pre-implantation abortions sometimes resulting from IUDs and other devices used for birth control.
Szymkowiak points out that based on the generally accepted figure of 1.3 million abortions per year in the U.S., it can be estimated that in 2001, Planned Parenthood performed about 16% of all procedures. Further, at an estimated average cost of $375 per abortion, PPFA had a total income of $79.8 million from abortions in 2001 alone. Over the period of 1977 through 2001, an astonishing $894 million in abortion income is estimated for the abortion provider.
While PPFA's abortion procedures are increasing, their adoption referrals are falling. In 2001, for every one adoption referral the organization made, it aborted 109 babies.
Those concerned with the Aetna website can contact that company by calling 860-273-0123, writing 151 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, CT 06156, or visiting their website, link to Aetna Navigator, then to InteliHealth at “More” in the center of the page.
Pat Centner is a staff writer for AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association. This article appeared in the August 2003 issue.
(This article courtesy of Agape Press).
