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Texas and the 49 Other States
- Texas has the highest rate of uninsured people in the U.S.1
- Texas has the 3rd highest rate of births to adolescents aged 15-17.2
- Texas has the 5th highest rate of pregnancies to adolescents aged 15-17.3
- Texas has the 8th highest rate of syphilis among the general population.4
- Texas has the 18th highest rate of gonorrhea among the general population.5
- Texas has the 20th highest rate of chlamydia among the general population.6
- Texas has the 43rd lowest rate of provision for contraceptive services to women in need.7
- Texas has the 45th lowest rate of women receiving prenatal care.8
Access to Reproductive Health Care and Contraception
- Currently, in Texas, 31% of women ages 15-44 lack health insurance.9
- There are an estimated 1.4 million women in Texas who qualify for, but do not have, access to subsidized family planning health care.10
- Since September 1, 2003, insurers in Texas can offer plans to employers and individuals that do not include state mandated coverage of health benefits, such as contraceptives.11
- In Texas in 2004, there were three publicized cases of women who had pharmacists refuse to fill their prescriptions for emergency contraception or other birth control.
Sexual Health Education
- Texas does not require schools to provide sexuality education.12
- If a sexuality education course is taught, it must teach abstinence but is not required to provide information about contraception, including condom use.13
- Sex Education courses must:14
- 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.15
- 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.16 The books also do nothing to help sexually active teens comprehend and deal with the emotions of adolescent sexual activity. These textbooks will be used in Texas schools for the next ten years
1. Texas Fact Book 2006.
2. Ibid.
3. The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) State Center. Contraception Counts: Texas. November 1, 2005. [Online, accessed December 13, 2006, www.guttmacher.org/pubs/state_data/states/texas.html]
4. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). HIV/AIDS, STD & TB Prevention State Profile for Texas. 2004. [Online, accessed December 14, 2006, www.cdc.gov/nchstp/od/stateprofiles/docs/TX%20State%20Profile%2009-29-06.pdf]
5. CDC. STD State Profile for Texas.
6. Ibid.
7. AGI. Contraception Counts: Texas.
8. Texas Fact Book 2006.
9. AGI. "Preventing Unintended Pregnancy: The Need and the Means." Guttmacher Report on Public Policy. 2003. [Online, accessed December 13, 2006, www.guttmacher.org/pubs/tgr/06/5/gr060507.html]
10. AGI. "One Million New Women in Need of Publicly Funded Contraception." Guttmacher Policy Review. v 9, n 3, 2006. [Online, accessed December 14, 2006, www.guttmacher.org/pubs/gpr/09/3/gpr090320.html]
11. Insu. ¡± 1507.005 (Williams 2003).
12. Who Decides? A State-by-State Review of Abortion and Reproductive Rights, 2001, National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) and NARAL Foundation.
13. Ibid.
14. Educ. ¡± 28.004 (West 1996).
15. STDs/HIV. Educ. ¡± 28.004 (West 1996).
16. Stutz, Terrence. "Texas picks textbooks that stress abstinence." The Dallas Morning News, November 6, 2004. [Online, accessed January 3, 2007, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2002083822_gays06.html]
17. Schafersman, Steven D., PhD. "Written Testimony for the Texas State Board of Education Public Hearing on July 14, 2004." Health Education Textbook Review and Analysis. Texas Citizens for Science, June 25, 2004. [Online, accessed January 3, 2007, http://texscience.org/health/tcs-health-books-testimony.htm]
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