Child pregnancies climb, sex education talks halt
Child pregnancies climb, sex education talks halt
A NATIONAL ASSEMBLY discussion of a sexual education bill has been suspended in the same week that the Ministry of Health revealed that pregnancies, among schoolgirls in 1916 reached 11,298, up 322 from 2015.
The data does not include reports of young pregnant
women seeking medical care at Social Security or
private clinics.
Three out of ten children born in Panama have a mother between the ages of 10 and 19.
On Monday, Gabriel Soto, chair of the National Assembly’s Labor, Health and Social
Development Committee, said that the discussion of a sexual education bill pending before the committee would be suspended until “a proposal is submitted that rescues “our Christian values,” reports La Prensa
The deputy said that assessments and consultations have been carried out “for many months,” but there is still not consensus on the issue.
“We have a society split in two” and the theme “has become polarized,” the deputy of the
ruling Panameñista Party told La Prensa
“There are extreme positions,” he added.