Statement of Laura Goodhue, Executive Director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, in response to the Secondary Education & Career Development Subcommittee passing House Bill 545 (sex ed opt in requirement):

“Providing young people with the information they need to make responsible decisions about their sexual health is extremely popular with everyone from parents to public health experts because it reduces unintended teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.

“Upwards of 90-percent of parents from both political parties support sex ed being taught in middle and high school.

“Making it harder for young people to access this information is bad public policy that will lead to bad outcomes.

“These representatives should remember they were sent to Tallahassee to represent their constituents, not to play politics with the health and safety of young people.” 

###

The final vote was 13 yeas, 4 nays, and one absent.

• McClain - Y
• Shoaf - Y
• Bush - Y
• Andrade - Y
• Benjamin - A
• Borrero - Y
• Fischer - Y
• Giallombardo - Y
• Harding - Y
• Maggard - Y
• Maney - Y
• Omphroy - N
• Rizo - Y
• Robinson - N
• Tuck - Y
• Valdes - N
• Woodson - N
• Yarborough - Y

 

Background

• The vast majority of Republicans and Democrats surveyed agree: sex education is important to teach in middle and high school. See the full report here.
• Leading medical and public health organizations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics also support comprehensive sex education. 
• The scientific evidence shows that comprehensive sex education helps young adults withstand pressures and promotes healthy, responsible and mutually protective relationships when they do become sexually active.
• Evaluations of comprehensive sex education and HIV/STI prevention programs show that they do not increase rates of sexual initiation, do not lower the age at which youth initiate sex, and do not increase the frequency of sex or the number of sex partners among sexually active youth.
• Under current law, a public school student whose parent makes a written request to the school principal shall be exempted from the teaching of reproductive health or any disease, including HIV/AIDS, in accordance with the provisions of s. 1003.42(3). Under SB 410, students wouldn't receive this instruction at all unless their parents opted them in. House Bill 545 and Senate Bill 410 would require parents/guardians to proactively opt in to sexual health education for their student. The standard now is to opt out.