"MariaTalks" website under fire

Sixty-three state Representatives have authored a letter to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick expressing concerns that the sexual education website Maria Talks (www.mariatalks.com) represents a possible misuse of tax dollars.

Maria Talks, a safe-sex education website for young adults, was developed by the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts (AAC) with funding from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH). The website includes information about emergency contraception, birth control, STIs and STDs (including HIV/AIDS), healthy relationships, and a variety of other sexual health issues.

"The website, targeted at teenagers, uses graphic and inappropriate language to describe various sexual activities," the letter to Gov. Patrick states. "Further, the website describes abortion in an insensitive manner and advises how to circumvent parental notification requirements."

According to the website, Maria Talks was designed based on the results of informant interviews and youth focus groups conducted by the AAC. The interviews revealed that many Massachusetts youth do not have a "reliable and trusted source" to answer important questions about sexual health -- questions that are addressed on the Maria Talks website.

"We feel strongly that the issues that are addressed through the Maria Talks website and Sexual Health Helpline are not only paramount in safeguarding the general, sexual health of those who utilize the service, but can and will have an impact on their risk for HIV," the Maria Talks website reads.

The letter to Gov. Deval Patrick called into question the state funding used to develop and operate the Maria Talks website.

"A review of the Facebook fan page for this website raises serious questions regarding the use of tax dollars to advocate for or against public policy. In a fiscal climate where the Executive Office of Health and Human Services has faced many cuts over the past few years, we find it disturbing that some must endure cuts to basic services in favor of funding a grant that is being used in such a controversial manner," the letter read.

"We would emphasize that this is not a debate over the pro-choice and pro-life position on the topic of abortion, as we represent a spectrum of viewpoints on that issue, but rather the necessity of funding this website in a time of scarce resources as well as the manner in which the website is constructed. ...While we understand that teenagers may have questions about sexual education, we believe the Commonwealth should uphold a level of appropriateness in the way we interact with our youth. This website uses language that crosses the line."

The April 28 letter called for substantive changes to the website or its removal altogether.

The AAC released the following statement April 26:

Launched in 2008, MariaTalks.com is an online resource that provides comprehensive, medically accurate, and developmentally appropriate information about sexual health in a non-judgmental, easily-accessible format. The site features a narrator, 18-year-old Maria, who provides information in a youth-friendly way, and the site promotes parents as the primary source of information about sex for their children.

Facts about MariaTalks.com:

All of the content on MariaTalks.com has been developed in collaboration with public health and pediatric experts.

The goal of the site is to help young people make healthy, informed decisions about sex. Research shows that when comprehensive sexual health information is made available to young people, they will delay sexual activity and make safer choices once they are sexually active. [SOURCE: Underhill, K., P. Montgomery and D. Operario. 2007a. Sexual abstinence only programmes to prevent HIV infection in high income countries: systematic review. British Medical Journal: bmj.39245.446586.BE and Underhill, K., D. Operario and P. Montgomery . 2007b. Systematic Review of Abstinence-Plus HIV prevention programs in high-income countries. PLOS Medicine 4(9):1471-1485.]

Information on the site encourages young people to talk with their parents, or another trusted adult, about the decisions they are making, and to see a medical provider for contraception and STD testing if they are sexually active.

The site is made up of 50 pages; 30 of them are focused on delaying sex or making decisions to prevent unintended pregnancy. One page provides information about abortion; this page comes at the end of the chapter on pregnancy and follows pages on teen parenting and adoption.

In 2009, 48 percent of high school students in Massachusetts (grades 9-12) were sexually active, with 66 percent of all high school seniors reporting that they were sexually active. Only 43 percent of sexually active high school students, and 50 percent of sexually active high school seniors reported using a condom the last time they had sex. [SOURCE: Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. Accessed at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline/App/Results.aspx?LID=MA

The issues that are addressed through the Maria Talks website are essential in safeguarding the general, sexual health of young people by informing them of their risk for unintended pregnancies, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections.

Following the release of the letter, conservative group Massachusetts Family Institute issued a statement urging supporters to thank the sixty-three representatives who authored the letter, and launched "Maria Lies," a website petitioning for the removal of Maria Talks.

In response to "Maria Lies," Change.org created a petition to preserve the website and its message. In addition, a Twitter account under the username @SaveMariaTalks has been launched. Neither were created by the AAC.

The letter was signed by Massachusetts House Minority Leader Rep. Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R - 20th Middlesex); Rep. Marc T. Lombardo (R - 22nd Middlesex); Rep. James J. Lyons, Jr. (R - 18th Essex); Rep. Paul Adams (R - 17th Essex); Rep. James Arciero (D - 2nd Middlesex); Rep. Demetrius J. Atsalis (D - 2nd Barnstable); Rep. Bruce Ayers (D - 1st Norfolk); Rep. F. Jay Barrows (R - 1st Bristol); Rep. Carlo P. Basile (D - 1st Suffolk); Rep. Richard Bastien (R - 2nd Worcester); Rep. Matthew A. Beaton (R - 11th Worcester); Rep. Nicholas A. Boldyga (R - 3rd Hampden); Rep. Michael D. Brady (D - 9th Plymouth); Rep. Thomas J. Calter (D - 12th Plymouth); Rep. Linda Dean Campbell (D - 15th Essex); Rep. Nicholas Collins, Sr. (D - 4th Suffolk); Rep. Edward F. Coppinger (D - 10th Suffolk); Rep. Viriato Manuel deMacedo (R - 1st Plymouth); Rep. Angelo L. D'Emilia (R - 8th Plymouth); Rep. Marcos A. Devers (D - 16th Essex); Rep. Geoff Diehl (R - 7th Plymouth); Rep. Stephen L. DiNatale (D - 3rd Worcester); Rep. James J. Dwyer (D - 30th Middlesex); Rep. Ryan C. Fattman (R - 18th Worcester); Rep. Kimberly N. Ferguson (R - 1st Worcester); Rep. John V. Fernandes (D - 10th Worcester); Rep. Michael J. Finn (D - 6th Hampden); Rep. John P. Fresolo (D - 16th Worcester); Rep. Paul K. Frost (R - 7th Worcester); Rep. Colleen M. Garry (D - 36th Middlesex); Rep. Susan Williams Gifford (R - 2nd Plymouth); Rep. Thomas A. Golden, Jr. (D - 16th Middlesex); Rep. Sheila C. Harrington (R - 1st Middlesex); Rep. Carlos Henriquez (D - 5th Suffolk); Rep. Bradford Hill (R - 4th Essex); Rep. Russell E. Holmes (D - 6th Suffolk); Rep. Steven S. Howitt (R - 4th Bristol); Rep. Donald F. Humason, Jr. (R - 4th Hampden); Rep. Randy Hunt (R - 5th Barnstable); Rep. Kevin J. Kuros (R - 8th Worcester); Rep. Steven L. Levy (R - 4th Middlesex); Rep. James R. Miceli (D - 19th Middlesex); Rep. David M. Nangle (D - 17th Middlesex); Rep. Harold P. Naughton, Jr. (D - 12th Worcester); Rep. Shaunna L. O'Connell (R - 3rd Bristol); Rep. George N. Peterson, Jr. (R - 9th Worcester); Rep. William Smitty Pignatelli (D - 4th Berkshire); Rep. Elizabeth A. Poirier (R - 14th Bristol); Rep. John H. Rogers (D - 12th Norfolk); Rep. Dennis A. Rosa (D - 4th Worcester); Rep. George T. Ross (R - 2nd Bristol); Rep. Angelo M. Scaccia (D - 14th Suffolk); Rep. Todd M. Smola (R - 1st Hampden); Rep. Joyce A. Spiliotis (D - 12th Essex); Rep. Walter F. Timilty (D - 7th Norfolk); Rep. James E. Vallee (D - 10th Norfolk); Rep. David T. Vieira (R - 3rd Barnstable); Rep. Brian M. Ashe (D - 2nd Hampden); Rep. Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr. (D - 12th Hampden); Rep. Daniel K. Webster (R - 6th Plymouth); Rep. Donald H. Wong (R - 9th Essex); Rep. Mark Cusack (D - 5th Norfolk); and Rep. Geraldine Creedon (D - 11th Plymouth).