Sexual Sin Is Risky

God gave Israel a way to be certain if a wife had been unfaithful. When a husband was suspicious of his wife, the priests would cause her to drink holy water mixed with the dust from the floor of the tabernacle. If she was innocent, she had no problems but if she was guilty her belly would swell and her thigh would rot. Read Numbers chapter 25.

Numbers 5:24: And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter. 27 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people. 28 And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.

According to CDC, the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention in 2017 there were 2,295,739 reported cases of venereal disease in America. (That makes them 3 to 4 times as common as abortion.) STDs are a substantial health challenge facing the United States. Many cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis continue to go undiagnosed and unreported, and data on several additional STDs . . . such as human papillomavirus and herpes simplex virus, are not routinely reported to CDC. As a result, national surveillance data captures only a fraction of America*s STD burden. However, the data presented in the 2017 STD Surveillance Report provide important insight into the scope, distribution, and trends in STD diagnoses in the country.

STD Prevention Challenges. Maintaining and strengthening core prevention infrastructure is essential to mounting an effective national response. More than half of state and local STD program budgets have been cut in recent years . . . resulting in staff layoffs, reduced clinic hours, and increased patient co-pays that can limit access to essential diagnosis and treatment services.

Antibiotics can cure chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. However, left untreated, they put men, women and infants at risk for severe, lifelong health outcomes like chronic pain, severe reproductive health complications and HIV.

People who cannot get STD care remain vulnerable to short- and long-term health consequences and are more likely to transmit infections to others . . . further compounding America*s STD burden.

Some Groups Are Uniquely Susceptible to the Health Consequences of STDs. Chlamydia can cause lifelong damage to young women. Chlamydia is the most commonly reported STD, with approximately 1.7 million cases reported in 2017. Young women (ages 15-24) account for nearly half (45 percent) of reported cases and face the most severe consequences of an undiagnosed infection. Untreated STDs, like chlamydia and gonorrhea, put women at increased risk for pelvic inflammatory disease which may result in chronic pelvic pain, and potentially a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy. It is estimated that undiagnosed STDs cause infertility in more than 20,000 women each year.

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