Current Issues

Madison Surgery Center Abortion Plans Abandoned

The Madison Surgery Center is apparently abandoning plans to offer late-term abortions, as reported by the Wisconsin State Journal, on May 5, 2010.  However, officials at UW Health say they will continue to offer second-trimester abortions but they are not disclosing the location for this procedure.

In February 2009, the UW Hospital and Clinic Board of Directors made the decision to begin offering second trimester abortions at the Madison Surgery Center on Park Street.

The announcement that these plans have changed first came from Pro-Life Wisconsin, citing an April 30 letter from the state attorney general's office stating that UW Hospital no longer plans to offer 
late-term abortions at the Madison Surgery Center. In the letter from Assistant Attorney General Kevin Potter to an Eau Claire attorney, Potter wrote: "it is my understanding based on recent information from the UW that they have now abandoned plans to provide late-term abortion services at the MSC."

We are pleased that over one year later, no abortions have been 
performed at the MSC and that plans to offer abortions at MSC have been abandoned. We at Care Net are encouraged by this change and continue to pray that Madison will be a strong, healthy community built on faith, hope, and compassion.

Care Net Pregnancy Center does not offer or refer for abortions. We believe that terminating a pregnancy is not in the best interest of the woman or family. We do, however, provide counseling and information about a woman’s pregnancy options. And we do this with unconditional care and love.

Facing an unplanned pregnancy can be very overwhelming. That is why we are here. We want to equip, empower, and support women and men to choose life for their unborn children and to make wise life choices for themselves and their families.

Women deserve a safe place to turn, one with no vested interest in the critical decision they make regarding a pregnancy or sexual health concern.

Click here for more information on our medical and counseling services.

Abstinence Education Works

New research supports abstinence-only education as the best, effective choice for teens. For a newly released study reported in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescence Medicine, researchers found that 52% of students who were taught safer-sex education reported sexual activity while only 33.5% of those who were
taught abstinence-only education reported sexual activity. The 
researchers concluded, "Theory-based abstinence-only interventions may have an important role in preventing adolescent sexual involvement."*

In another study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and 
Unplanned Pregnancy, 60% of sexually active teens said they wished they had not had sex.** Locally, teens tell us they appreciate Care Net?s message of encouraging healthy life choices and abstinence until marriage. One teenage girl told us this: "[My boyfriend and I] heard your presentation at our school, and we both decided we were worth the wait."

With this in mind, we were deeply disappointed when the Legislature passed and the Governor recently signed into law a bill that creates roadblocks to teaching abstinence in public schools.

We are pleased to see the latest research showing that abstinence
education is the best choice for youth. But regardless of the latest 
reported trends, Care Net is dedicated to promoting healthy 
relationships and encouraging teens to save sex for marriage.

* Jemmott, JB. Jemmott, Fong, GT (2010). Efficacy of a Theory-Based Abstinence- Only Intervention Over 24 months. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2010; 164(2):152- 159. Retrieved February 25, 2010 from http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/164/2/152

** Chavex. L. (2010, February 5) Abstinence education works after all. Townhall. com. Retrieved February 25, 2010 from http://townhall.com/columnists/...

Un-"Healthy" Youth Act

Wisconsin's new law, mis-named the "Healthy Youth Act," will 
dramatically alter sex education programs in schools. Since Care Net medical personnel currently offer medically accurate, 
abstinence-centered presentations in area schools, we are concerned.

This new state law mandates that all schools that choose to offer a 
Human Growth & Development curriculum will be required to teach a comprehensive sex education program.

This new curriculum will not only do away with the current requirement that abstinence must be presented as the best choice for unmarried students, but it will also give far more credence to birth control and "?safer" sex than to abstinence.

Since this bill passed and was signed into law this spring, we have 
seen an increase in concerned parents, teachers and school 
administrators calling Care Net, wondering how this new comprehensive sex education will impact their Human Growth and Development curriculum and how Care Net can help provide an alternative.

Many parents and school districts still want the abstinence message strongly passed on to their children. While we were disappointed to see this bill mandating comprehensive sex education pass in Wisconsin, we are dedicated to promoting healthy relationships and encouraging teens to save sex for marriage.

Tanis Jean-Louis, Care Net's Nurse Manager, teaches about Sexually Transmitted Infections in area public and private schools as an outreach of Care Net to teens and schools in the community.  She says, "Given the seriousness of STDs and unplanned pregnancies, it is critical that teens receive a message grounded in primary prevention and risk avoidance. Abstinence until marriage is the safest, healthiest, lifestyle. Only programs that promote abstinence until marriage discourage teens from engaging in casual sex and champion abstinence as a worthy and attainable goal. When given skills and encouragement, most teens today choose to be abstinent, and many who are sexually experienced are choosing to discontinue sexual activity. Most teens want to receive a strong message about abstinence. Most parents want their teens to hear this message."

With the increase in concerned parents and school staff reaching out to us, hoping we can offer help to their teens, we look forward to moving ahead together in bringing wise life choices to area students.

Medical Facts from the CDC & the Medical Institute:

• 1 in 4 teenage girls in the U.S. has a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI).
• There will be 10 million new cases of STIs among 15 to 24 year olds in the next year.
• Consistent and correct condom use during vaginal sex reduces the risk of HIV by 85%; reduces the risk of Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Herpes and Syphilis by about 50% and reduces the risk of HPV, the only cause of cervical cancer, by 50% or less.
• 2/3 of teens who have had sex say they regret it.
• Depression is three times greater among those teens who are sexually active than among those who are not.

These statistics indicate there are serious physical and emotional 
consequences associated with teen sex that cannot be dealt with by increasing contraceptive use. Abstinence centered education, that empowers teens with the knowledge that they are valuable and worthwhile people, equips them with tools to develop healthy relationships and encourages them to set goals for their future is the only method of instruction that truly prepares students to navigate their teen years in a healthy way.

Planned Parenthood Loses Bid to Silence Former Director Turned Pro-Life

By Kathleen Gilbert

BRYAN, Texas, November 10, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com)  -  A district court judge has denied Planned Parenthood's request for a gag order against Abby Johnson, the former director of a Houston-area Planned Parenthood abortion facility who quit her job following a conversion experience. Read more...

Abby Johnson Interview on The O'Reilly Factor

For more information on Abby Johnson's story, visit
The Coalition for Life Website.