Minn. Legislature Considers 'Abstinence-Plus' Sex Education Bill

A bill (SF 2645) in the Minnesota Legislature would require each school district to create an "abstinence-first" sex education curriculum with "age-appropriate" lessons on human sexuality and information about condoms and other contraceptives, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. Current state law requires school districts to implement sex education programs that "includ[e] helping students to abstain from sexual activity until marriage." The legislation also would require, for the first time, that sex education programs address prevention of sexual violence. Parents could elect to exclude their children from the programs.

Lorie Alveshere, policy director for the Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention and Parenting, said the bill "is meant to be the standard, and then an individual school district gets to choose the curriculum."

Although the proposal has been discussed around the Capitol for several years, it has faced resistance from Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), according to the Pioneer Press. Because of opposition from Pawlenty and others, the bill's prospects are "doubtful," the Pioneer Press reports.

Minnesota has one of the lowest overall teen pregnancy rates among states, but its pregnancy rate among black teens is the fifth-highest in the nation (Hoppin, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 3/3).


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