How condoms kill

Saying that the use of condoms is ‘safe sex’ is in fact playing Russian roulette. A lot of people will die in this dangerous game. — Dr Teresa Crenshaw, member of the US Presidential AIDS Commission.

I know this is the Easter weekend and Easter is about good prevailing over evil, truth conquering lies and life defeating death. So I guess my topic today will be relevant, nonetheless. I have repeatedly made the point that the condom-sale hype and “safe-sex” campaigns actually result in the increase of HIV/AIDS infection, rather than the opposite. The prestigious London medical journal Lancet (January 29, 2000) states, “Increased condom use through vigorous promotion, will increase the number of HIV/AIDS transmissions that result from condom failure.” A study done at the University of Texas analysed the results of eleven different studies that had tracked the effectiveness of condoms to prevent the transmission of the AIDS virus. The condom failure rate in the eleven studies was a frightening 31 percent. The Parenthood Federation states, “Condoms reduce the risk of HIV infection by about 70 percent if they are used “consistently and correctly.”

Really, a 30-31 percent failure rate, though certainly frightening, is, not surprising. It is well known that the average failure rate of condoms in preventing pregnancy is 14 percent. But a woman can become pregnant only at ovulation, which is for a period of just two to three days each month. But HIV (and all other STDs) can be transmitted from partner to partner any second, any minute, any hour or any day of the month. Here are some interesting facts on condom failure and why such failure occurs.

1. Sex in haste — In the car, at a party or out on a “lime,” when people are intoxicated, or “high” (which is very often so in “liming” and date sex) very little or no heed is given to proper precautions in using the condom. The condom pack may be opened with the teeth, causing tearing. The fingernails can also cause damage in a similar way. The foil pack in which the condom is wrapped can damage the condom, as the latter is being pulled out in haste.

2. Putting on the condom badly — Condoms have a reservoir end at the tip, from which air must be squeezed out before fitting on. If this air remains (which is quite frequently the case), the extra pressure built up at the time of ejaculation can cause tiny fractures or complete rupture of the condom. Air bubbles can also be trapped while the condom is being rolled on to the length of the penis. During intercourse,, friction causes bursting at the sites of these air bubbles.

3. Anatomical geometry — Condoms must fit the penis properly. A “one-size-fit-all” condom does not pass the test, hence slippage occurs if the condom is too large or slack. With slippage, semen is leaked out. This can happen during intercourse or when withdrawing after ejaculation. “Spillage from condoms may occur as much as 65-75 percent” (Bjorklund and Gordon. University of Manitoba).

4. Holes in the condoms — Latex condoms have tiny holes called “voids.” While sperm is larger than these holes micro-organism can pass easily through. This includes the AIDS virus which is smaller than the “voids” (Pro Life America).

5. Type of sex — For anal intercourse, the failure rate of condom is significantly higher because of the lack of lubrication and more trauma on the condom (AIDS Information Centre, San Francisco). Apart from homosexuals, there is an increasing number of school girls right here in TT, who are having anal intercourse in order to “keep their virginity.”

6. Type of lubricant used — Latex condoms are usually used with oil-based lubricants, which weaken the integrity of the condom. This adds to the already high failure rate. Examples of wrong lubricants used include: suntan cream and lotion, cooking and mineral oils, baby oil, petroleum jelly, butter, margarine, shortening and, would you believe, car oil!

7. Poor storage — A large number of condoms are kept in wallets, in trousers pockets, in purses, in glove compartments and some have resorted to stuffing them in lockets worn around their neck. Exposure to air, heat and light in these circumstances do weaken the condoms and increase their failure in the act of intercourse. Here are a few comments from leading experts:

• “Simply put, condoms fail. And condoms fail at a rate unacceptable for me as a physician to endorse them as a strategy to be promoted as meaningful AIDS protection.” — Dr Robert Renfield, chief of retro-viral research, Walter Reed Army Institute, USA.

• “Relying on condoms for ‘protection’ can mean lifelong disease, suffering, and even death for you or for someone you love.” — Dr Andre Lafrance, Canadian physician and researcher.

• “Saying that the use of condoms is ‘safe sex’ is in fact playing Russian roulette. A lot of people will die in this dangerous game.” — Dr Teresa Crenshaw, member of the US Presidential AIDS Commission and past president of the American Association of Sex Educators. Now, do you think it’s worth it to foolishly risk your life with illicit, deadly sexual activity? Won’t it be wiser and far better to heed the advice of God’s Word, which incidentally finds agreement in the counsel given by the US Food and Drug Administration, Consumer Magazine (September 1990): “The only sure ways to avoid sexual transmission of diseases (including AIDS, chlamydia, genital herpes, genital warts, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, and syphilis) are not to have sex at all or to limit sex to one uninfected partner who is also monogamous.”