New York: Senate Urged to Adopt Sex-Education Bill

Health advocates, teens, and clergy lobbied New York legislators this week to pass a bill for a grant program for "age-appropriate, medically accurate" sex education.

New York public schools are required to teach about HIV/AIDS but the state does not mandate sex education. According to the bill's sponsors, New York has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the nation: six in 10 teens have had sex before graduating from high school and 40,000 become pregnant each year.

The "Healthy Teens Act" passed through two state Senate committees last year, but was not voted on. "The continuing level of teenage pregnancy in this state is not acceptable," said Sen. George Winner (R-Elmira), a sponsor of the bill. Concerns about the measure in the Senate include who would determine what "age appropriate" means since one family's definition could vary from another's, said Winner.

The Healthy Teens Act would not be mandatory, Winner said. Schools and community groups would apply for grants as part of the bill, although there are no funds currently attached to the legislation.

Sex education programs under the grant would teach that abstinence is the only sure way to avoid pregnancy and STDs. Pros and cons of different types of contraception would also be provided, along with other health information.

Last fall, New York announced it would reject any future money from the federal government's abstinence-only programs and any state money devoted to the program would be redirected to expand "comprehensive sexuality education."

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