It was "The Fresco" by Sheri S. Tepper. The plot point above was just a side thing at the very end of the novel (I may have spoiled it for you, sorry!), but the book is a very fun sci-fi otherwise! :)
Whatever, it's not actually about logic or rationality or what makes sense. It's about dogmatism and parroting whatever the authority leader says, no matter how little sense it makes. When you're told the "truth" already exists and you have to do nothing to seek it because it's already packaged up in a book for you all pretty, you don't develop any sort of rational facilities for evaluating logic and arguments. Therefore it's very easy for them to hold all sorts of conflicting and hypocritical values.
One of the most satisfying sci-fi concepts in a book EVAH. :)
[www.cnn.com] are very, very lucky you have never been exposed to any of these fatal and crippling diseases. Part of the reason you haven't been exposed is because of everyone else vaccinating ("herd immunity", look it up). If more and more people subscribe to your parents' point of view, we're going to see more and more outbreaks like the one in China. So please educate yourself before spreading the idea that if one un-vaccinated person didn't catch a disease then therefore everyone is safe. Because the evidence speaks otherwise.
So despite the abstinence-only education, something's working! I posit that it's the popularity of "16 & Pregnant" and "Teen Mom" educating teens on the true consequences of unprotected sex... ;)
They need to make some shows like "16 & Herpes-ridden" or "Teen Chlamydia"... ;)
But I think the government can assist with providing the tools and education necessary to do so effectively, because it's clear that many teens are NOT aware of the consequences of their actions, and it's clear that government intervention in contraception and sex education directly affects the rates of unwanted pregnancies, as shown by the rates and programs in other countries (notably Sweden and other European nations).
If the government can help reduce an issue that so clearly creates moral distress on all sides and is a strain on our nation's health resources, don't they also have an obligation to do something about it to free us taxpayers up from paying for children that never should've been born to begin with? I don't want to pay for someone's pre-natal care and welfare for their child if they never wanted that child to begin with- I'd rather pay for contraception which is much cheaper and preventative.
But you know what, I understand it's a tough issue. I just want kids to get contraception access and sex education, period, I don't care where it comes from. Just seems like NGO's aren't being successful at it so far and that stronger intervention might be necessary, but I wouldn't say that my stance is that the government HAS to be the one to provide that- as long as everyone's getting it and it's consistent.
I don't understand what was wrong with getting sex education through school and the parents having the ability to opt out if it went against their beliefs. Why did that get tossed aside and abstinence-only taken up? (Which has proven to be a dismal failure.) If the parents have the ability to opt out there should be no conflict there...
BTW, his advice on how to get rid of stalkers (or potential ones) is to avoid engaging with them in any way.
I just find it ironic that people immediately jump to the whole "she shouldn't be having children" argument when a mother parents poorly, and yet immediately forget that as soon as we try to offer contraception and sex education to the very women at risk for this sort of thing.