(Kristin Sparks is editor of HLI Reports, a publication of Human Life International.)
As stated in this report, activities include: translating IPPF documents into “language used and easily understood by young people;” creating youth-oriented posters, graphics, games, videos and “pithy cartoons” containing IPPF propaganda; liaising with organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, UNESCO and other UN agencies; convincing young artists in the entertainment world to promote the IPPF message; “taking action to overcome” organizations — such as Human Life International (HLI) — that they consider to be “sources of…negative influence and opposition to sexual and reproductive support services for youth.” And this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Among these many destructive projects is the “Sexwise” sex education radio initiative, developed in partnership with the BBC World Service. First tested in South Asia in 1996, the Sexwise project has since spread worldwide. It consists of radio broadcasts of IPPF propaganda in at least 11 languages, and includes related books, a website and telephone counseling hotlines for young listeners. Funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Commission, Sexwise touts a supposed audience of 150 million listeners. These young listeners are “educated” on such topics as “foreplay and intimacy, masturbation, homosexuality, unsafe [sic] abortion, sexual coercion, prostitution…sexually transmitted infections and contraceptive methods for both men and women.” Thus the Sexwise programs and materials constitute one of IPPF’s major sex ed initiatives.
Referring to this global sex education project, Human Life International Media Manager Jason Jones said, “I’m not surprised because IPPF represents an industry — the abortion industry. And there is a lot of money to be made in the spreading of the Culture of Death. Not just from the girls in these countries who are having abortions, but also in grant money from Western and U.S. foundations.
“To IPPF, these countries are nothing more than markets to be exploited. These so-called radio public service announcements are nothing more than commercials for the Culture of Death.”
According to a report in The Guardian newspaper, the British government funds that country’s Sexwise telephone “counseling” hotline, which operates from 7 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, and receives an average of 2,800 calls per day. And this is just in one country; numerous Sexwise hotlines exist in other parts of the world. With IPPF giving “advice” to so many unsuspecting teens, is it any wonder that the rates of teenage pregnancy and STD’s continue to rise? Yet officials and “experts” are blinded to the reality that IPPF-type sex education does, in fact, lead to increased sexual activity — and the consequences it inevitably brings — among youth. IPPF Director-General Ingar Brueggemann has explicitly stated her organization’s intentions to continue the illogical and damaging sex-ed crusade: “It is not just that it would be better for them [children] to know [about sex]. It is absolutely imperative that they do. This is where I think that the main responsibility of IPPF lies now. And this is something we intend to talk about loud and clear.”
IPPF’s work to corrupt children via the airwaves makes the international pro-life initiatives at HLI all the more important. Putting to use HLI’s in-house recording studio, staff members have been working on a number of radio projects to spread the pro-life message worldwide. “We don’t have nearly the amount of money that IPPF, NARAL and others have,” Jones said. “But in countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, where radio ads literally cost us pennies, we can conduct successful radio campaigns. In countries like Bulgaria, where more children are aborted than are born, we have an obligation to be spreading the Gospel of Life not only to save babies, but to minister to the tragic number of post-abortive women.”
In coming months, HLI will be producing commercial radio spots narrated by a young girl recounting the pain, loss and regret that is the result of abortion. Jones explained, “We’ve just finished recording the ads in Turkish and Bulgarian. Next we will be producing them in Lithuanian, Romanian, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Italian and Spanish.”
Other current HLI radio projects include “The Facts of Life” series, which consists of one-hour shows pertaining to various pro-life topics. HLI is currently in contact with more than 40 U.S. radio stations, working to promote the show. “The Facts of Life” can also be heard via the Internet at www.catholicradio-dc.org and www.diocesereport.com.
In addition to “The Facts of Life,” HLI also produces the shorter “Four-Minute Facts” radio spots, as well as 60-second public service announcements promoting the Culture of Life. Through these and other initiatives, HLI hopes to combat the deceitful message spread by IPPF and similar organizations throughout the world.
