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May 2003 Legislative Report
current through June 2, 2003

Arizona: Medical Accuracy Bill Passes Senate Committee

Senate Bill 1142, introduced on January 28, would require that any sexuality education curricula taught in schools be medically accurate and authorizes school districts that provide instruction on HIV/AIDS to also provide instruction on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The bill passed the Senate Education Committee on February 24 and is currently in the Rules Committee.

The bill defines "medically accurate" as: 1) supported by research conducted in compliance with accepted scientific methods; 2) recognized as accurate and objective by leading professional organizations and agencies with relevant expertise; and 3) published in peer-reviewed journals, if appropriate.

California: California Comprehensive Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention Education Act In Senate

The California Comprehensive Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention Act, Senate Bill 71, is intended to consolidate, clarify, and amend the state's current provisions dealing with sexuality education. The bill passed the Committee on Education with non-relevant amendments and has been read twice in the Committee on Appropriations.

The bill's purpose is to provide pupils with the knowledge and skills necessary to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and to encourage healthy attitudes and values about adolescent growth and development, body image, gender roles, sexual orientation, romantic involvement, marriage, and family. Current law requires school districts to teach HIV/AIDS prevention education at least once in middle school and once in high school. School districts are not required to teach sex education, but if they do there is specific content and notification procedures that must be followed.

SB 71 requires that all instruction be age-appropriate and "medically accurate," which is defined as "verified or supported by research conducted in compliance with scientific methods and published in peer-reviewed journals, where appropriate, and recognized as accurate and objective by professional organizations and agencies with expertise in the relevant field, such as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." The bill authorizes school districts to provide comprehensive health education in all grades from kindergarten through 12, and requires that all pupils in grades seven through 12 receive HIV/AIDS prevention education from trained instructors. The bill also requires that parents/guardians are notified about any HIV/AIDS and sexuality education class and that they may request that their child not receive such education (a so-called "opt-out" provision).

Assembly Bill 950, introduced on February 20, would amend California's existing Education Code to prohibit any sexuality education instruction without a parent's prior written consent (this is called a "opt-in" provision). Current law prohibits such instruction unless a parent or guardian has been notified and allows school districts to require an opt-in provision. The committee postponed a hearing on April 3 and the author of the bill postponed a hearing on May 7.

The federal government provides $50 million in grants each year to states for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. States are required to match every four dollars of federal money with three dollars of state money. California is the only state that does not take the federal government's grant for abstinence-only-until-marriage. Senate Bill 267, introduced on February 18, would require the State Department of Health Services to develop a program that would allow the state to apply for and receive the federal funds. A hearing was held on March 26, and the bill failed to pass the committee by a vote of two to seven.

Connecticut: Bill Requiring Child Development Education, Including "Family Life Education" In Committee

In the Connecticut General Assembly, a bill has been introduced that would, as amended, require that child development education, including family life education among other topics, be included in school curricula. The purpose, in part, is to teach students parenting skills. House Bill 5993, introduced on January 27, and amended by the Joint Committee on Children on February 5, 2003, does not define "family life education." It is in committee.

Federal: Medically Accurate Sex Education Bill in House Committee

On February 13, the Medically Accurate Sex Education bill was introduced in the House. This bill, H.R. 802, would prohibit any elementary or secondary school receiving federal funds to provide information that is not medically accurate in human development or sexuality education course material. Medical accuracy is defined as "supported by research, recognized as accurate and objective by leading medical, psychological, psychiatric, and public health organizations and agencies, and, where relevant, published in peer-reviewed journals." The bill, which has 8 co-sponsors, is in the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

House Concurrent Resolution 91, introduced on March 12, expresses the "sense of Congress that the Nation should strive to prevent teen pregnancy by encouraging teens to view adolescence as a time for education and growing-up and by educating teens about the negative consequences of early sexual activity." The bill is in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health.

Florida: Bill Requiring AIDS Education Grants Dies in Senate Committee

Senate Bill 1262, introduced on March 3, would have required the Department of Education to award annual grants to public school districts for the purpose of implementing AIDS education activities. AIDS education is not currently mandatory in Florida. This bill would have provided an incentive for such education. The bill passed the Education Committee, but died in the Committee on Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care on May 2.

Hawaii: Three Bills in the House and Senate Would Require Medically Accurate, Comprehensive Sexuality Education

Two bills have been introduced in Hawaii's legislature that would require recipients of state funding who provide sexuality education to provide medically accurate, age-appropriate information about both abstinence and contraception. House Bill 136, introduced on January 17, has unanimously passed two committees and is now in a third. The Senate version, Senate Bill 876, is in committee.

House Bill 872, introduced on January 22, includes findings that comprehensive sexuality education-education that discusses abstinence and contraception-helps delay the onset of sexual activity and reduce the frequency of sex, and that abstinence-only programs do not delay the onset of sexual activity or the frequency of sex. The bill requires the Board of Education to formulate a policy requiring that schools teach comprehensive, medically accurate sexuality education.

All three bills define medically accurate as information that is supported by research conducted in compliance with accepted scientific methods and information that is recognized as accurate and objective by leading professional organizations and agencies with relevant expertise in the field, such as the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists or the federal Centers for Disease Control.

Illinois: Comprehensive Sexuality Education Bill Passes House Committee, Dies in Senate

Senate Bill 99, introduced on January 29, would have amended Illinois' current Education Code to require that all sexuality education taught be comprehensive and medically accurate, and include instruction on the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases as well as HIV/AIDS. The language changes included an emphasis on the effectiveness of abstinence, but the phrase "abstinence is the expected norm" was deleted. Language promoting heterosexual marriage was also omitted from current code in the bill, and other changes were included. The bill passed a House committee on March 6, but died in the Senate.

The bill defined "medically accurate" as "verified or supported by research conducted in compliance with scientific methods, published in peer-reviewed journals, where appropriate, and recognized as accurate and objective by professional organizations and agencies with expertise in the relevant field."

House Bill 2298, introduced on February 19, would require that students in sex education classes be advised of the provisions of the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act, a so-called "safe surrender" law. An amendment to the bill added a provision that information about parenting skills and confidential adoption services would also be required under the law. The bill passed the House on March 27 and passed the Senate on May 12.

House Bill 1630, the Hispanic/Latino Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Intervention Initiative passed the House on March 20 and the Senate on May 9. The Department of Human Services will establish the program.

Indiana: Bills Die at End of Legislative Session

House Bill 1199, introduced on January 8, would have added a requirement to current sexuality education law that any program must "include instruction on maintaining self-control, resisting peer pressure, and establishing positive relationships in preparation for marriage." Current law has three other requirements: 1) that the program teach abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage as the expected standard for all school age children, 2) that the program include that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems, and 3) that the program include that the best way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases and other associated health problems is to establish a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage.

House Bill 1862, introduced on January 23, would have required that when health, AIDS, HIV, or abstinence education is required by statute, all information taught be medically accurate. The bill did not strike out current abstinence or marriage promotion language from the statutes and left in tact the above three requirements in current law.

Iowa: Medical Accuracy, Comprehensive Sexuality Education Bill Introduced in House

House Bill 465, introduced on March 5 and referred to the Committee on Education, would require that all human growth and development, health education, and family life courses in public and accredited nonpublic schools provide information that is medically accurate and age appropriate. Under the bill's provisions, the Department of Education would be required to make such medically accurate courses available to schools and to develop a procedure for evaluating such curricula. HB 465 also contains a list of what such courses taught to students in grades six through 12 must include. Among the items on that list are information on all types of contraception and discussion of abstinence.

The bill defines "medically accurate" as information that is supported by research conducted in compliance with accepted scientific methods, recognized as accurate and objective by leading professional organizations and agencies with relevant expertise in the field, such as the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists or the federal Centers for Disease Control, and published in peer-reviewed journals were appropriate.

Louisiana: Parenthood Education Requirement Bill in Committee

House Bill 103, pre-filed on February 19 and currently in committee, creates a parenthood education requirement for all public secondary schools. Current law states that if a school teaches home economics, it must also teach parenthood education. This bill would require all public high schools to teach parenthood education regardless of whether they teach home economics.

Maryland: Bill Limiting Sexuality Education Topics and Access Dies in House

House Bill 1169 died in the Maryland House of Delegates Committee on Ways and Means on March 21. HB 1169 would have prohibited any County Board of Education from adopting curricula that "promotes the distribution of contraceptives," required parental consent for sexuality education courses (a parental "opt-in" requirement), and prohibited school health services without parental consent. After a hearing on March 12, the bill died in committee.

Massachusetts: Health Education Requirement Bills in House and Senate

House Bill 1258 and Senate Bill 295, both introduced in January, would require that health education be taught in grades kindergarten through 12 by adding the requirement to the state's core curriculum. The definition of "health education" comes from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Education Framework and includes information on topics such as nutrition, physical activity, mental health, safety and injury prevention, reproduction and sexuality, substance abuse, violence prevention, and consumer health. A June 25 hearing has been set for the Senate bill.

Another bill introduced in the House, HB 2037, contains the same language as the above bills. HB 2037 also includes language on other instruction to be included on topics such as history, AIDS education, and violence prevention, among others, and specifically gives the board the authority to include the "teaching of family life skills." HB 2037 is in committee.

Senate Bill 293, House Bill 1847, and House Bill 2753 would include HIV/AIDS prevention education in the health education curriculum of all public schools. All three bills were introduced on January 1 and are in committee.

House Bill 1867 and Senate Bill 550, both introduced in January, would require the state to establish community-based health and sexuality education services provided by comprehensive family planning agencies. A hearing has been set for July 16 for both bills.

House Bill 323, filed in December and in committee since January 1, would require every public school district to establish a Health Educational Curriculum Committee to "research and made recommendations on a comprehensive, age appropriate, factually and medically accurate health education curriculum for grades k-12." The bill also contains provisions relating to parental notification and parental opt-out.

House Bill 1445, introduced in January, would require that any school with a sexuality education program have a written policy on parental/guardian notification of the program. All such programs would also have to be non-mandatory elective programs and parents would have to give written permission, or permission by a method similar to those used for other elective courses, for their children to participate.

House Bill 1115, for which a hearing was scheduled in April, would direct several departments to hire, train, and prepare unwed mothers who have received certain aid to take part in a pilot program for girls and/or boys to "educate them as to the adverse social and economic consequences of being an unwed mother." The bill also establishes an evaluation component for different types of pregnancy prevention programs.

Michigan: Requirement for Medical Accuracy Sex Education Introduced

House Bill 4646, introduced on May 6 and referred to the Committee on Education, would require that school boards provide instruction in medically accurate, age appropriate, comprehensive sexuality education for all grade levels. Further, any instruction on disease prevention must be factually and medically accurate. The bill requires that teacher training and curricula choice be controlled by local boards rather than state boards and that public hearings be held for any proposed curricula changes, including abstinence-based changes.

"Medically accurate" is defined as verified or supported by research conducted in compliance with scientific methods and published in peer-reviewed journals, where appropriate, and recognized as accurate and objective by professional organizations and agencies with expertise in the relevant field, such as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

House Bill 4101, introduced on January 29, would require that "life management" be taught to children starting in kindergarten. Life management is defined as parenting education, intended to teach children about the responsibilities of parenthood. If such instruction includes any sexuality education, it must be submitted to and approved by the sex education advisory board. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Education.

Minnesota: Abstinence-Until-Marriage Mandate Dropped from Omnibus Education Bill

Current law in Minnesota requires a "comprehensive, technically accurate, and updated curriculum that includes helping students to abstain from sexual activity until marriage." Efforts from the House to change the requirement to an abstinence until marriage curriculum in the omnibus education bill (HF 1404 and SF 1528) adopted by the legislature were not successful in the Senate or the conference.

However, funding for the state's five K-12 HIV/STI regional training sites was cut in the bill. There is still a small chance that funding for three of the sites will be restored.

HF 765 and SF 851 were incorporated into the Senate version of the omnibus bill but not accepted in the conference. Those bills would have made several changes to the current statute regarding sexually transmitted disease programs. The current language of "sexually transmitted infections and diseases" would have been changed to "sexually transmitted infections" and language regarding marriage in the context of abstinence would have been deleted from the current statute (which would have then read "comprehensive, technically accurate, and updated curriculum that includes helping students to abstain from sexual activity").

HF 580 and SF 747, requiring every school district to offer two curricula to address HIV/STI prevention-one comprehensive sexual health education curricula and one abstinence-until-marriage curricula-were incorporated into the House version of the omnibus bill. The Senate version did not include this requirement, and conferees ultimately decided to drop the different requirements, thus maintaining the current law.

Also of note were proposed amendments that would have included language prohibiting any state agency or school from "promoting homosexuality." The House amendment was ultimately withdrawn and the Senate amendment failed.

House Bill 1227, introduced on March 26, is intended to "improve student access to services that support academic success." The bill was amended in committee to include new provisions. One of these added provisions states that if school districts comply with a state statute regarding a sexually transmitted disease program, then they must provide students with a curriculum and instruction on abstinence until marriage. A committee report was adopted on April 7 incorporating the amendments and the bill was re-referred to another committee. The current session is over, but this bill carries over to next session.

Mississippi: Governor Approves Bill Without Provision Requiring Creation of Advisory Councils to Make Recommendations on Sexuality Education

After a January 17 introduction, House Bill 920, which would have required local school districts to create health/physical education advisory councils to make recommendations on various topics, including age-appropriate sexuality education, died in committee on February 4. A similar bill, Senate Bill 2339, was introduced in the Senate on January 15 and passed on February 6. It was then sent to the House where it was amended on February 21 to omit any reference to human sexuality and passed on February 26. Governor Ronnie Musgrove (D) approved the bill on March 18.

New Jersey: Comprehensive Family Life Education Bill Remains in House

On May 9, 2002, a bill was introduced in the New Jersey legislature that would require each board of education in the state to offer comprehensive family life education. HB 2772 defines family life education as "education regarding human development and sexuality, including education on family planning and sexually transmitted diseases, that is medically accurate and age-appropriate; respects community values and encourages parental communication; promotes responsible sexual behavior and addresses both abstinence and the use of contraception; promotes individual responsibility and involvement regarding sexuality; and teaches skills for responsible decision-making regarding sexuality." There has been no action on the bill since May 2002.

New Mexico: Medically Accurate, Age-Appropriate Sexuality Education Bill Passes House, Dies in Senate

The Health and Human Development Education Act, House Bill 554, was introduced on February 5 and passed the House on February 25 by a vote on 61 to 2. A bill report was then adopted by the Senate Committee on Education on March 18. The bill died at the end of the legislative session.

The bill would have required the Department of Education to create guidelines for schools on age-appropriate health and human development courses for grades kindergarten through 12. While schools are currently required to provide health education, such instruction may be taught as a separate class or as part of the curriculum for other subjects. This legislation outlined different guidelines for grades kindergarten through four, grades five through eight, and grades nine through 12.

Under the legislation, the Department of Education would also have been required to provide "medically accurate health and human development information" to districts. Medically accurate is defined as verifiable or supported by the preponderance of research in compliance with accepted scientific methods and published in peer-reviewed journals where appropriate. Medically accurate information must also, according to the definition in the bill, comprise of information that "leading professional organizations and agencies in the field, such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, recognize as accurate."

New York: Age Appropriate, Medically Accurate Comprehensive Sex Education Grant Program Proposed

House Bill 8599, introduced on May 21 and referred to the Committee on Assembly Health, would establish an age appropriate sex education grant program with the intent of providing "at-risk adolescents with the information, assistance, skills and support to enable them to make responsible decisions, including abstaining from sexual intercourse and for those who do become sexually active, the use of condoms or contraceptives effectively." The bill outlines the parameters of such programs, including that they must be medically accurate and provide information on contraceptives. The bill provides for $20 million for this program in 2005, and increasing dollar amounts for subsequent years.

The Dignity for All Students Act, Assembly Bill 1118 and Senate Bill 1925, introduced on January 14 and February 14, respectively, would direct each school district, with direction from the Commissioner on Education, to establish policies, create programs, and develop instruction intended to eradicate discrimination in public schools based on various factors, including sexual orientation. The Assembly bill was "laid aside" on May 27 after having been sent to the Assembly floor calendar. A bill is usually laid aside when a legislator intends to either block the bill or discuss it further. The Senate version is in committee.

House Bill 7199, introduced on March 24 and currently in the Committee on Assembly Governmental Relations, would require training on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex issues (LGBT) for employees of facilities operated by the Office of Children and Family Services. The purpose of the bill is to protect LGBT youth in such facilities from harassment, discrimination, and abuse and to increase tolerance and diversity. The bill is in response to evidence demonstrating that such youth often face harassment, discrimination, and violence in the Office of Children and Family Services facilities.

North Carolina: Medical Accuracy Bills Introduced in House and Senate

House Bill 873, introduced on April 7, and Senate Bill 618, introduced on March 31, would require that health education courses offered in public schools with public funds, including abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, provide medically and factually accurate information that is age-appropriate. The bills would require that abstinence be taught and that the latest available statistics on the success and failure rates of contraceptive methods, including condoms, be taught.

The bills define "medically and factually accurate" as "verified or supported by research conducted in compliance with scientific methods and published in peer-review journals, where appropriate, and recognized as accurate and objective by professional organizations and agencies with expertise in the relevant field, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

The bills are in committee.

Senate Bill 778 and House Bill 1226, both introduced in April, would restore some funding for local teen pregnancy prevention initiatives, local health department initiatives for prevention of out-of-wedlock births, and grant-in-aid. Both bills are in appropriations committees.

North Dakota: Abstinence Bill Fails to Pass House

House Bill 1398, introduced on January 20, failed to pass the House by a vote of 50 to 43 on February 17. The bill would have required that abstinence be stressed in sexuality education courses throughout the state. The bill also would have forbidden condom or other contraceptive demonstrations.

Lubbock, Texas was cited by a North Dakota Democrat as a reason why the legislation should be defeated. Lubbock has been the subject of a national discussion because of its abstinence-only-until-marriage curriculum and high teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease rates.

Oklahoma: Act for Coordination of Efforts for Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases Withdrawn from Calendar and Sent Back to Committee

The Act for Coordination of Efforts for Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases, House Bill 1104, was introduced on February 2 and passed committee on February 18. On March 5, the bill was withdrawn from the calendar and sent back to committee. The purpose of the bill is to provide for a comprehensive, coordinated, multidisciplinary and inter-agency effort to reduce the rate of adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The bill would create a committee for this purpose and enumerates activities for the committee. These activities include evaluating successful programs from around the country and recommending legislative changes. The bill also outlines qualifications and representatives who should serve on the board.

Pennsylvania: Chastity Awareness Week Resolution Adopted and Chastity Awareness Month Resolution Introduced

On May 6, Senate Resolution 95, designating the week of May 5 through May 12 as "Chastity Awareness Week," was introduced and adopted. Among other things, the resolution recognizes that "chastity places sexual intercourse within the context of marriage." Another resolution, House Resolution 292, was introduced in the House on May 22 and contains the same language as the Senate version.

Rhode Island: Age-Appropriate, Medically Accurate Comprehensive Sexuality Education Bills Introduced

Senate Bill 863 and House Bill 6070, introduced in February and currently in committee, would require that all public school students in grades one through 12 receive age-appropriate, medically accurate sexuality education. The bills require that such education stress abstinence "while not ignoring those young people who have had or are having sexual intercourse," provide information about contraceptives, and encourage family communication, among other provisions. There has been a House hearing on HB 6070.

Texas: Virtues Education Program Proposed

House Concurrent Resolution 73, adopted by the House on April 25 and reported out of committee in the Senate, would direct the Texas Education Agency and the State Board of Education to adopt and promote a "virtues education program." The resolution outlines various components of what such a program includes such as citizenship, faith, and friendliness, among many others.

Vermont: Bill Requiring Parental Consent for Discussion of Sexual Issues in House Committee

Vermont House Bill 291, introduced on February 25, would prohibit the teaching of enumerated sexual issues to students in grades seven through 12 in public schools without written consent-for each day that one of the subjects will be discussed-of a parent or guardian. Further, the bill has a detailed notification procedure for parents including the date and time of instruction, the instructor's name, and a detailed description of the instruction to be given. The bill also prohibits the teaching of any of the enumerated subjects-among them homosexuality-to children in grades kindergarten through six.

Washington: Amended Medically Accurate Sexuality Education Bill Passes House; Senate Counterpart of House's Medically Accurate Sexuality Education Bill Reintroduced

Bills requiring that sexuality education paid for with public funds be medically accurate were introduced in both the House and Senate. House Bill 1178, introduced on January 20, was amended and passed the House on March 7. It was then sent to committee in the Senate where it was returned to a House committee on April 27. There has not been any action since then.

The House bill recognizes the importance of medically and factually accurate information about sexuality, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases to the health of young people and requires that any program paid for with public funds teach only medically and factually accurate information. The bill requires that courses teach abstinence as the most effective way to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, but stipulates that school districts have the discretion to choose what curriculum to use as long as it is medically accurate. The House bill also stipulates that any discussion of success or failure rates of contraceptives in any program, including abstinence-only programs, among other topics, must use medically accurate information.

Senate Bill 5314, introduced on January 22, requires that all sexuality education be medically accurate, and was reintroduced on May 12.

"Medically accurate" is defined in both bills as information that is supported by research conducted in accordance with scientific methods and published in peer-reviewed journals, where appropriate, and recognized as accurate and objective by expert professional organizations and government agencies such as the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

West Virginia: Responsible Sexuality Education in Schools Act Remains in Committee

House Bill 2907, the Responsible Sexuality Education in Schools Act, was introduced on February 7 and referred to the Education Committee. In its findings, the bill recognizes that comprehensive sexuality education-education that discusses abstinence and contraception-helps delay the onset of sexual activity, reduces the frequency of sex, and reduces the number of sex partners and that abstinence-only programs do not delay onset of sexual activity or frequency of sex.

The bill defines "medically accurate" as supported by the weight of research conducted in compliance with accepted scientific methods and recognized as accurate and objective by leading professional organizations and agencies with relevant expertise in the field, such as the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists or the Centers for Disease Control.

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