Gloria Feldt, Planned Parenthood

Gloria Feldt is president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Almost spilled my tea over the front page of this morning's USA Today. After 49 years, the Miss America Pageant has dropped its restrictions on contestants who are divorced or who may have had an abortion.

At the risk of reading too much into this development (which itself will be a cottage industry before the day's out), I'm speculating that perhaps we are evolving toward a world where women are valued not for superficial reasons, but for their capabilities and accomplishments.

Then I remember the swimsuit competition. Anyway ...

First thing this morning I'm interviewed by a consultant who is evaluating one of the foundations that supports our international programming.

Then there's coffee with a group of volunteers that wants to know about our plans for the United Nation's upcoming Day of Six Billion on October 12. The date chosen to observe the birth of the planet's six billionth human life is, of course, symbolic. But the reality of that number, and its potential influence on the world's resources and everyone's quality of life, is very real. I'm meeting with our Capitol Hill staff on Wednesday and I make a note to discuss the legislative outlook this fall for overseas family planning funding.

Hopefully there will be opportunities to focus attention on global development and raising the status of women and families. The key, I think, is involving young people, teens.

It's only fitting. Young people are the defining force of the new century. They are the YouthQuake generation -- one billion global citizens now entering prime reproductive age, the largest childbearing generation in history. The decisions the YouthQuake generation makes -- not just about childbearing but about every aspect of their lives -- will have a profound impact on the environment. On the availability of global resources. And on the quality of life of every last citizen of this planet.

Some people get panicky when I tell them this. But I'm optimistic. Young people are not a problem; they represent opportunity. But that doesn't mean there isn't a lot we need to do to make sure they are educated and motivated for what's ahead of them.

I'm also optimistic about the Internet and the role it can play in facilitating teen involvement -- no geographic boundaries. Despite its bad rap as a supposedly negative influence on teens, the fact is that the web potentially is the greatest grassroots-mobilizing tool the world has ever seen. And as a vehicle for responsible sex education, as opposed to titillation, we're only beginning to see the possibilities.

Later today, I'm lunching with a prominent sexuality educator and I'm sure these issues will come up. I'll brag about Teenwire, a youth-oriented website Planned Parenthood launched earlier this year. In its own colorful, hip, and interactive way, the site provides young people the same range of accurate sexual health information they would get if they came to a Planned Parenthood clinic.

The emails we get point to the advantage of the home PC as an educational tool: It's private, nonjudgmental, and increasingly accessible. There are the usual questions: How do I know I'm pregnant? How do I get a sexually transmitted infection?

But we also get messages like this:

"I was raped not too long ago. I was scared to talk to people about what could happen or the things I needed to get tested for -- you had all the information I was looking for. You helped a lot. Hopefully, you can help other girls who had their innocence taken. I love the advice and how you don't tell them who the person is or any of that information. I highly recommended this site for my friends. Thanks for everything."

Many responses are coming from kids -- and parents -- living outside the United States (including the Middle East and Southeast Asia) where there is little access to sexual health information and services.

Talking about the rights and responsibilities of young people always breeds controversy. But teens in the United States and abroad must have the knowledge and access to services necessary to maintain health and make informed decisions.

All of us are occupying shared space and heading toward a shared destiny. It is in everyone's best interest that young people worldwide are given access to the information and reproductive health care they must have to make responsible choices.

After lunch, it's off to Washington, D.C., for a dinner meeting with coalition partners.