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I skipped class this past Tuesday to rally with almost 100 peers at the Texas Capitol in support of comprehensive sex education, and here's why:
Texas has a HUGE unintended teen pregnancy problem.
We can all agree on this.
Consistent and continuous abstinence is 100% effective at preventing unintended teen pregnancy.
Yes, that's true too.
BUT we know 52% of high school students in Texas have had sexual intercourse before graduatiing high school.
So, they're not being abstinent.
Well, are they at least using condoms?
No. In fact, 43.6% of sexually active Texas teens say the did not use a condom the last time they had sex.
This HUGE anomaly is a result of our failed abstinence-only sex education policies in Texas, which insist that abstinence be presented as the preferred behavior for unwed teenagers. These programs fail to offer any reliable information about anatomy, contraception, STIs, HIV/AIDS, healthy relationships, condoms, pregnancy, or self-esteem.
Even more alarming, abstinence-only materials in Texas regularly contain medical inaccuracies, especially about condoms. As a result, many high school students have been taught that condoms provide no protection from STIs, HIV/AIDS, or unintended pregnancy, despite the overwhelming support from the medical community, including the CDC, that condoms are extrememly effective at preventing pregnancy and the transmission of STIs.
So isn't it time that Texas catches up with the times and supports a medically accurate, comprehensive, evidence-based approach to sex education in order to effectively lower our unintended teen pregnancy rate?
That's why almost 100 Texas students stormed the Texas Capitol on Tuesday March 8, 2011. We met with our elected officials to urge them to support House Bill 1624 and Senate Bill 852 which would require sex education materials to be medically accurate, evidence based, stress abstinence, and also emphasize various methods of contraception and STI prevention.
Overall, we had a great deal of support from many legislators and staffers but also many die-hard abstinence-only supporters who refuse to accept the reality that Texas teens are not remaining abstinent. We will continue pushing for the advancement of these bills and keep you posted on their progress, and what you can do to help!
