| For immediate release June 13, 2011 Contact: Anne Fox, 781-449-1774 Boston, Massachusetts Citizens for Life commends the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for adding suggestions that children talk to their parents to the abortion page of their website Maria Talks. This is a positive first response to the concern of parents across the state. Numerous and substantial problems remain, however. The site still tells minors how to get abortions without telling their parents, still gives minors contact information to find a lawyer for the judicial bypass, still helps minor girls obtain abortifacient drugs, also known as "emergency contraception", which involves potentially concealing statutory rape, and still refers minor girls to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the state (nearly 2/3 of all abortions in MA in 2009). No changes have been made to the rest of the site, with its lewd material. The site says "If you are not yet a teen, you might not want to visit my site". This conforms to MDPH documents which state that this material is designed for teens. The same documents reveal that the Department proposes "to expand the MariaTalks.com website and helpline to better serve high-risk, vulnerable youth and families in Latino communities in the urban areas of Holyoke, Lawrence, and Springfield, MA." Officials at the MDPH told representatives from MCFL that the hotline has been the key to the program, receiving most of the $100,000 in state funding for salaries for the people answering the phones and that the website was designed to bring youngsters to the hot line. These officials also said that the people answering the phones do not ask the ages of the children to whom they speak. Sexual activity with a minor is statutory rape, which must be reported by state law. Obviously, this law is being ignored. Documents further state that "The MDPH will also work with Planned Parenthood League of MA to design the web-based and classroom-based curriculum modules." There is an ongoing national scandal, including at least one indictment, about Planned Parenthood refusing to report statutory rape and encouraging girls to cover up the abuse. The links on Maria Talks are invariably to Planned Parenthood. Anne Fox, President of Massachusetts Citizens for Life states, "We believe the MDPH worked in good faith to add references to parents to Maria Talks. Unfortunately, this does not make the site any more acceptable to the parents of the state nor does it make the content any more appropriate for the teens of the state. We urge the Department to remove the site entirely." ###### For the information of the media, this is the MCFL analysis of Maria Talks: http://massprolife.com/component/content/article/176.html Massachusetts Citizens for Life, founded in 1973, is the oldest and largest pro-life organization in the Massachusetts with chapters across the state, and is affiliated with the National Right to Life Committee. www.massprolife.com
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