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ABSTINENCE-ONLY-UNTIL-MARRIAGE SEX EDUCATION

The U.S. has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the developed world—twice as high as England or Canada; eight times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan.  Texas teens critically need sexual health information to help prevent pregnancies and disease, but Texas' sex education has let them down.

  • Texas does not require schools to provide sexuality education.1  If a school district chooses to provide a sexuality education course, the course must teach abstinence but is not required to provide information about contraception, including condom use.2

  • If taught, a sex education course must:3

    • Present abstinence from sexual activity as the preferred choice of behavior in relation to all sexual activity for unmarried persons of school age

    • Devote more attention to abstinence from sexual activity than to any other behavior

    • Emphasize that abstinence from sexual activity is the only method that is 100 percent effective in preventing pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and the emotional trauma associated with adolescent sexual activity

    • Direct adolescents to a standard of behavior in which abstinence from sexual activity before marriage is the most effective way to prevent pregnancy AND

    • Teach that condoms and contraception are ineffective because of human error if instructions on condoms and contraception are included in the curriculum.

  • If a course providing sexually transmitted infection (STI) education is taught, it must teach abstinence but is not required to provide STI prevention information, such as the use of condoms.4   Many abstinence-only programs in Texas exaggerate condoms' failure rates with regard to pregnancy and HIV prevention, and never include information about how to select a birth control method or use it correctly.  Many programs lead students to believe that contraceptive failure rates are due to flaws with the method itself, not to incorrect or inconsistent use.

  • Additionally, some Texas school districts receive federal funding for abstinence-only sex education or contract with outside organizations that receive abstinence-only federal funding to teach sex education in schools.  These programs are required by federal law to focus exclusively on remaining abstinent until marriage.

  • In November 2003, the Texas State Board of Education adopted sex education textbooks that do not discuss contraceptives or condoms, except for their ineffectiveness, and only talk about remaining abstinent until marriage.  These textbooks will be used in Texas schools for the next ten years.

  • Prominent health organizations, including the American Medical Association, have denounced abstinence-only sex education programs.

  1. Who Decides? A State-by-State Review of Abortion and Reproductive Rights, 2001, National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) and NARAL Foundation.

  2. Who Decides?, 2001, NARAL and NARAL Foundation.

  3. Educ. ¡± 28.004 (West 1996).

  4. STDs/HIV. Educ. ¡± 28.004 (West 1996).