Ann Bailey
New York City is back in the news with another form of devastation plaguing its citizens, a kind that isn’t usually discussed in polite company. According to a new report from the Department of Health, the spread of HIV/AIDS, syphilis, hepatitis B, chlamydia, and gonorrhea is “soaking” almost every one of the city’s neighborhoods.
Based on metrics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), of the 181 New York City zip codes tracked for disease, one-third of them were in the top 20 percent for multiple STDs. Areas in the Bronx were the hardest hit with 68 percent of its neighborhoods in the highest percentiles for two or more diseases. But the tony areas of New York City have certainly not escaped this scourge. HIV/AIDS and syphilis both ranked in the top quintile in areas like Greenwich Village/SoHo and Chelsea/Hell’s Kitchen. While only Staten Island – the area hardest hit by Super Storm Sandy – had no high-morbidity zip codes.
Yet New York City prides itself on its sexual liberalism and then tries to control the consequences through so-called “progressive approaches” to sex education and condom distribution. Like the latest one called CATCH (Connecting Adolescents to Comprehensive Healthcare) where students at school can’t get an aspirin without parental permission, but they can receive birth control injections, condoms and the dangerous “morning-after pill.”
Oh yes, did I mention that New York City is infamous for having one of the highest abortion rates in the country?
All things considered, I have to ask NYC citizens and policy makers: “How’s that sexual liberalism thing working out for ya?”