Did you know that the United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any developed nation? Or that 37 states allow for medically inaccurate sex education? Or how about the fact that only 18 states require teachers to provide information about contraception?
Young Americans deserve better than to be lied to and mislead, and that’s why American Millennials supports the passage of federal legislation requiring every state, district and territory of the United States to make age appropriate sex & relationship education and information compulsory in all schools, including private schools.
While religiously-based private schools must remain free to educate students on the religious tenants of their specific religion regarding sexuality, this legislation would require such schools to also provide their students with medically-accurate information regarding sex and relationships. Any educational institutions that attempt to circumvent these requirements should face significant fines and the loss of any tax-free status they may enjoy if setup as a religiously-based institution.
Despite the fact that some religious institutions will disagree with this proposed legislation, providing medically accurate information to young Americans who are coming of age is a critically important to reducing the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), teen pregnancy, and unintended pregnancies taking place outside of marriage.
To find out if your state is behind the times on sexual education, check out the map below, as well as some of the other policy maps depicting state sexual education laws, which were recently published on the Huffington Post.