Lonestar State and Local: I read Crystal Pecina's http://mycountryilovethee....

Lonestar State and Local: I read Crystal Pecina's http://mycountryilovethee....: I read Crystal Pecina's http://mycountryilovethee.blogspot.com/2011/12/helping-others-instead-of-ourselves.html . Although without a link I ...

I read Crystal Pecina's http://mycountryilovethee.blogspot.com/2011/12/helping-others-instead-of-ourselves.html. Although without a link I am not sure of the original article Ms. Pecina is refrencing I do see two upsetting topics in what she has written.

I have some concern with the actions made by both Bush and Perry as I am sure Ms. Pecina does. For the United States to send a former President to Africa to educate women on cervical and breast cancers is certainly a great thing. In Ms. Pecina's article she states that the same important education is being denied to our own US women because of budget cuts. Ms. Pecina says that it is "hard providing this care to low income women." Hard to educate low income US females yet not too hard to travel all the way to Africa to educate the women there? I think all women should be educated on their bodies and dangers they may face. But when it is too expensive to even educate our own women here in the States should we really be out sourcing former Presidents to travel across the world to give the same service we deny our own to others? Many women die from cervical and breast cancers who may have been able to survive if they were educated enough to detect the cancers early on. By spending money on traveling to educate our country is letting uneducated women here die.

Ms. Pecina also says in her article that Perry boasts about cutting two thirds of Texas' family planning budget. After looking at the statistics from  http://texaslsg.org/texasonthebrink/ I think family planning is one of the things our state desperately needs and should never be cut from the budget. Texas is 2nd in birth rate, 2nd in population under 18, and 4th in percent of children living under poverty. Those numbers tell us that lots of babies are being born to people who cant afford to support their children. Family planning is one way to provide birth control to people who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford it. Texas is dead last in percent of pregnant women rreceiving prenatal care in first trimester. And look at the statistics here,

• In 2008, the birth rate for ages 15-19 in Texas was 63.4 per every 1,000 people, compared to 41.5 in the U.S., giving Texas the third highest teen birth rate in the nation.[i]
• According to a 2009 study of sex education materials from 96 percent of all Texas schools, only 4 percent of schools in Texas teach about pregnancy and STD prevention in schools.[ii]
• 3.7 million Texas students are not taught basic information in public schools about STD prevention and unplanned pregnancies, and 25 percent of Texas school districts have no formal policy regulating sex education.[iii]
• 41 percent of sex education materials used in Texas school districts contains factual errors.[iv]

53 percent of Texas students have had sexual intercourse, compared with 48 percent nationwide; 17 percent of Texas students have had sexual intercourse with four or more persons in their life, compared with 15 percent nationwide; and 43.6 percent of Texas students did not use a condom during their last instance of sexual intercourse, compared with 38.5 percent nationwide

It is alarming how badly Texas needs a family planning budget. I believe Texas should look at improving its family planning instead of decreasing it. And by not only allowing for a larger budget to educate family planning we can also budget to educate women on cervical on breast cancer. These are some extremely important issues and Texas needs to make sure the entire state is educated on these matters before cutting spending or taking these matters to other countries.

Senate OKs Changes to Newborn Screening Program

I am interested in the article Senate OKs Changes to Newborn Screening Program, because I have an 8 month old son and this article reminds me of  the cradle to grave idea. Government is involved in every aspect of our lives from the time we are born until the day we die, but how much should Government be involved?

Having a new son I of course am very protective of him and want the best for him. I delivered my son in the hospital and I am sure that most hospitals are made possible or at least regulated by some form of Texas Government. My son was issued a social security card and given a birth certificate, and we now go to doctors appointments every 3 months where he is given shots. Government has had a hand in deciding which shots are to be administered but other than that Government hasn't played too much of a role in parenting my son.

 I do remember my sons newborn screenings but the thought never crossed my mind that I might not want health officials using my son's blood samples for research. Apparently other parents didn't want their child's blood samples being used and filed a law suit which is why state health officials can no longer use infant blood samples for non-approved purposes without parental approval. There was definitely a lot of confusion and it is hard to remember exactly what questions were asked in the hospital but I am sure if asked if I give Government consent to use my son's blood samples for research I would give it.

Although I have no idea why it could possibly be bad for infant blood samples to be used without consent it does make me feel good that the parents won the lawsuit and the child's rights were protected. I am happy to live in a country where Government can help its citizens and still respect individual rights. It is a good thing to have a Government that is there to help as long as they aren't too involved in controlling citizens lives.