Tag Archives: teenagers

Meet Our Candidates: Carol Lokare for State Representative, LD 21

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Head and shoulders portrait photo of Carol Lokare.The Arizona general election will be held on November 6, 2012, and early voting started on October 11. After the many recent legislative challenges to reproductive health care access, both nationally and statewide, the importance of voting in November can’t be overstated. To help voters, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona has endorsed candidates who have shown strong commitment to reproductive health and freedom. Along with those endorsements, we are spotlighting our endorsed candidates in a series called “Meet Our Candidates.” Make your voice heard in 2012!

Earlier this month we profiled Dr. Richard Carmona, a former U.S. surgeon general and Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, as well as Jo Holt, a retired biochemist running for the state Senate. And last month we spotlighted Dr. Eric Meyer, a physician with experience in emergency medicine, who is running for the Arizona House of Representatives. Another candidate who would bring scientific and medical expertise to the Arizona Legislature is Carol Lokare. As an experienced registered nurse, Lokare understands both the factual basis (or lack thereof) for family planning legislation as well as the human side of the equation: how such legislation would impact people’s lives.

Lokare is currently seeking to represent Legislative District 21 — an area that includes El Mirage, Peoria, and part of Glendale — in the Arizona House of Representatives. She took the time for an interview with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona on October 17, 2012.

“I am someone who can be trusted to look out for women and families, someone who will advocate for affordable, comprehensive, easily accessible health care.”

Tell us a little bit about your background.

For the past 32 years I have worked as a registered nurse. I am a 1980 graduate of Phoenix College’s nursing program and a 1984 graduate of the University of Colorado Adult/Geriatric Nurse Practitioner Program. I have a varied background in the nursing field, having worked as a bedside nurse; manager of a hospital medical unit in Los Gatos, California; school nurse; and as a nurse practitioner in a geriatric practice in Sun City, Arizona. I recently took a leave of absence as a cardiac care nurse at Banner Boswell Hospital in Sun City to devote time and attention to my campaign for the Arizona House of Representatives, LD 21. I also have a bachelor of science degree in political science from Arizona State University.

I have been married to my husband, Sanjay, for 25 years, and we have three children, a son and two daughters.

Why do you think it is important that people make their own health care choices? What role do you feel the government should play in legislating and facilitating health care services, especially reproductive health care services?

Because of my background in the health care field this is a question that I feel can be answered in a simple and straightforward way. I cannot think of one time in the last 32 years where I have felt it necessary for any elected government official to step in and make a health care decision for a patient. All health care decisions can and should be made by a patient, his/her physician, and concerned family, without meddlesome interference by outsiders. Continue reading →

October Is “Let’s Talk Month”: Communicating with Your Children About Sexuality

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The following is a guest post by Planned Parenthood Arizona’s Director of Education Vicki Hadd-Wissler, M.A.

“How do you know when you are in love?” “Where do babies come from?” “What is erectile dysfunction?” If you are a parent, or an important adult in the life of a child, chances are you have heard questions like these from a child in your life at one time or another. The last question was one I received from my son several years ago, right after he saw a TV commercial for Cialis. How we respond to these questions, especially if we are open, honest, and reassuring, goes a long way in creating a sexually health adult.

This month, we’ll conduct three parent workshops in Phoenix and Tucson to empower adults with age-appropriate strategies for discussing sexuality with the children in their lives.

October is “Let’s Talk Month,” a national event organized by Planned Parenthood and more than 50 other organizations to promote family communication about sexuality. Let’s Talk Month gives Planned Parenthood Arizona a chance to spotlight what we support all year long: parents in their role as the primary sexuality educator of their children. There is an abundance of research that reinforces the positive role parents (and other important adults in the life of a child) play in influencing their youth’s sexual decision making. The more parents can “normalize” conversations about sexuality and sexual health, making sure that their kids know that they can ask questions and that their parents want to be an honest resource for their questions, the more likely their kids will seek them out for information. Continue reading →

SB1009 Lacks Solutions — Tell House Education Committee to Vote NO!

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SB1009, being heard today, Monday, March 12, in the House Education Committee, requires schools to promote childbirth and adoption over abortion. It is inappropriate to discuss a preference for pregnancy outcomes — ANY outcome — as a part of a sex education curriculum. That is a private decision best left to teens and their parents.

As we know, Arizonans want solutions to the devastating number of teen pregnancies in our state. We must work to reduce risky behaviors and help our youth develop life skills that will motivate them and encourage healthy lifestyle choices. We must engage youth and parents in an effort to address sexual risk-taking behaviors! Continue reading →

Abstinence-Only Education Gives Birth to Arizona’s High Teen Pregnancy Rate

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Arizona has an especially high teen-pregnancy rate. Arizona also promotes abstinence-only education in its public schools.

Arizona is known for a lot of things. The Grand Canyon, our universities, beautiful sunsets.

And, oh yeah, our truly awful teen pregnancy rate.

Ranked against the other 49 states, Arizona’s teen-pregnancy rate has been in the top 5 for years. And while you probably won’t see that fact emblazoned on a license plate anytime soon, teen pregnancy still has a significant impact on Arizona residents.

Abstinence-only education teaches that the only way to prevent pregnancy and STIs is to abstain from sex, which is not very helpful to the 70 percent of teenagers who have had intercourse by age 19.

As of 2009, Arizona had the fifth highest teen birth rate in the United States. This trend is on the rise — as of 2006 the rate had increased by 6.5 percent. In 2009, 12,537 teenagers became pregnant. Of those pregnancies, 10,952 resulted in live births. While the majority of those women were either 18 or 19, that’s still about 3,500 girls under the age of 17 giving birth, a number that varies every year but generally stays in the 4000s. Continue reading →

STD Awareness: “Can I Get an STD from Oral Sex?”

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As tools to reduce risk for STD transmission, dental dams are not to be ignored.

Many consider oral sex to be a safer form of sexual activity compared to vaginal or anal intercourse. For this reason, they might put less emphasis on the use of latex barriers, such as dental dams and condoms, during oral sex. Unfortunately, this idea is misguided and can lead to the transmission of preventable infections.

It is generally true that oral sex presents less of a risk for contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) — but this risk is not trivial, especially when people are under the impression that they don’t need to use barrier methods during oral sex. Most sexually transmitted diseases can be passed along by oral sex, including chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, hepatitis B, herpes (which can be transmitted back and forth from the mouth, as cold sores, to the genital region, as genital herpes), human papillomavirus (HPV), and HIV. Even pubic lice can be transferred from the genital region to eyelashes and eyebrows! Additionally, intestinal parasites are more likely to be transmitted via oral sex than through vaginal sex. A microscopic amount of fecal matter containing parasites can be infectious, and can be unknowingly ingested when present on genitals.

Seventy percent of adolescents who reported engaging in oral sex had never used a barrier to protect themselves from STDs during oral sex.

Some bacterial STDs, such as gonorrhea and syphilis, can do permanent damage if not treated in time. Furthermore, gonorrhea of the throat is much more difficult to treat than gonorrhea in the genital or rectal areas. And some viral STDs can’t be cured (such as herpes and HIV), while others can cause chronic infections that have been linked to cancer (such as hepatitis, which is associated with liver cancer, and HPV, which is associated with throat cancer as well as cervical cancer and anal cancer). Continue reading →