REDWOOD NEEDLES

Presented by the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter Newsletter, The REDWOOD NEEDLES

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Have We Defused the Population Bomb?

By Jerry Kohl, Population Committee Chair

The world's population has soared past six billion and it's still growing at over 100 million people per year. More than 1.3 billion people now live in absolute poverty. Over a billion lack clean water. President Bush re-installed the Global Gag Rule on his third day in office. This action disqualifies overseas family planning organizations from receiving U.S. funds for family planning, if they with their own money, lobby to make abortion legal or provide legal abortion services. Let President Bush and your Representatives in Congress know your feelings about family planning and the Global Gag Rule.

Our country is the fastest growing industrialized nation, we forecast that our population will double by 2100 and yet we have cut federal funds for family planning. Our state and county provide inadequate funds for sexuality education.

Some of you helped gather information on just what Sonoma County middle and high schools present as sexuality education. We are planning a forum at the Sonoma County Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship for Sunday, Oct. 28th to discuss our findings; examine available comprehensive education curricula, including the "Our Whole Lives Curricula" of the UUA and United Church of Christ; and to decide on a next step.

We are also developing a program for early November at which we expect to bring together sexuality education Teachers, parents of teenagers, and teenagers with the goal of improving sexuality education in Sonoma County.

We need your help. If you have a teenage child, or contact with the site council of a Sonoma County middle or high school, please give me a ring at 579-6790. Let us try to make a difference, set and example that others can follow, and help DEFUSE THE POPULATION BOMB.

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