Washington Legislature Passes Measure for Accurate Sex Ed

Capping four hours of debate Wednesday night, the Washington House voted 63-34 for a bill that prohibits abstinence-only sex education in public schools. The measure states that schools choosing to provide sex education must discuss abstinence but must also present other information about sex, including the use of contraception. Already passed by the Senate, the bill next goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire, who is expected to sign it.

House Republicans failed in their attempts to attach more than 30 amendments to the bill; these included mandating that abstinence and contraception receive equal classroom time, and that boys and girls receive sex education separately until seventh grade.

In January 2005, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction adopted voluntary guidelines outlining medically and scientifically accurate sex education. The new measure would make those guidelines mandatory. Rather than offer comprehensive sex education, schools could choose to drop the subject entirely, and some lawmakers said they feared schools would do so. HIV/AIDS education, however, remains mandatory.

The new bill would permit parents to review the curriculum and file a written request to opt their children out of the instruction. "Medically and scientifically accurate" information is defined as that which is supported by research, published in peer-reviewed journals, and judged to be objective.

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