Comprehensive Sexual Health Education
Planned Parenthood is working with the federal and state governments to ensure access to real sex education programs. These programs give young people the comprehensive, medically-accurate, unbiased and culturally competent information they need to make responsible decisions and stay healthy.
Comprehensive Sex Education is part of Planned Parenthood's Mission
Planned Parenthood Action Funds in California support public policy and legislation which:
- Ensures individuals have the right to medically accurate; current and objective; age appropriate; un-biased comprehensive sexuality education.
- Increases education for teens about puberty, abstinence, contraception, preventing sexually transmitted diseases and infections, spreading awareness and preventing HIV/AIDS, healthy relationships, and preventing violence in relationships.
- Supports proven teen pregnancy prevention education programs.
- Opposes ineffective abstinence-only education programs.
- Provides parents with the tools to effectively communicate with their children about sensitive sexual education topics.
Why is this Sex Education important?
Planned Parenthood is committed to bringing comprehensive sex education to America's schools. Planned Parenthood rejects failed abstinence-only programs and recognizes that teens need information to make healthy decisions regarding their futures. The best way to give them those tools is by providing comprehensive, medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education. Planned Parenthood is dedicated to addressing such issues for comprehensive sex education, parent-child communication and the overall state of teen health.
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (PPAC) believes individuals have the right to medically accurate; current and objective; age appropriate; un-biased comprehensive sexuality education. As a result, PPAC has worked with coalition partners to introduce several pieces of legislation that have become law:
Assembly Bill 629 (Brownley) – Comprehensive Sex Education
This legislation requires that any program providing information to prevent adolescent or unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases must be medically accurate; current and objective; age appropriate; culturally and linguistically relevant; provide information about the effectiveness and safety of contraception or STD prevention; include information on abstinence; not reflect or promote bias against any person on the basis of against any person on the basis of disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation; and not teach or promote religious doctrine.
Senate Bill 71 (Kuehl) – California Comprehensive Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention Act
The law clarifies existing law by providing schools clearer guidelines regarding sex education curricula and ensures sex education provided is comprehensive and free of bias. The law requires that sexual health education and HIV/AIDS prevention education taught in public schools be medically accurate, bias-free and age appropriate. For students in grades 7-12 (approximately age 12 and above), sexual health education must also cover abstinence and Federal Drug Administration (FDA)-approved methods for preventing pregnancy and STDS, among other topics. This type of comprehensive sex education has been proven to be effective.
Assembly Bill 561 (Lieber and Chu) – Teen Pregnancy Prevention
This law codifies the state's teen pregnancy prevention programs in state law. AB 561 protects the program structure in state law, while not requiring continuous appropriation. The law allows the programs to be funded with any combination of funding ie federal and state. With state budget deficits looming as far as the eye can see, this important measure would ensure that regardless of the level of funding these vital teen pregnancy prevention programs receive in coming years, they will be in place for decades to come.
Assembly Bill 246 (Cunneen) – Medically Accurate, Unbiased Sex Education
Assembly Bill 246, by Assemblymember Jim Cunneen (R-San Jose), amended the Education Code requiring that all sex education course materials and instruction be medically accurate and free of race, gender, and ethnic bias.