Coalition for Responsible Sex Ed is a coalition of educational, religious, health, social service and advocacy organizations, as well as concerned individuals that promotes lifelong healthy sexuality by advocating for policies on comprehensive sexuality education and access to confidential health care services.
Minnesota Legislative Update
The 2008 legislative session came to an end Sunday, May 18th, 2008. The Coalition for Responsible Sex Ed set out this session to get a bill passed and to the Governor. While we didn’t quite reach that goal, we keep inching forward. Our sex ed bill passed off both the House and Senate floors and was included for the first time in both sides going in to conference committee. Despite this advantageous position, we were eliminated during conference committee negotiations for the second year in a row. After failed negotiations with the Department of Education, the Governor’s staff and finally the Minnesota Family Council, bill authors Senator Sandy Pappas and Representative Neva Walker attempted to pass a stand alone bill with compromise language that would have amended the current STI statute. When this compromise was still met with opposition from the Minnesota Family Council, a final bill was not sent to the Governor.
We couldn’t continue to move this issue forward without our authors and advocates Senator Pappas (Use Mail Form) and Representative Neva Walker (rep.neva.walker@house.mn). Please join us in thanking them for their strong voices in support of Minnesota youth receiving the complete and accurate information they need to make safe and healthy decisions.
For more information about what happened at the Capitol, contact Lorie Alveshere at lorie@moappp.org or Amy Brugh at amy.brugh@mnaidsproject.org.
National Update
Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Oversight Hearing a Success
As we mentioned last month, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform recently heard testimony from experts and individuals on the ineffectiveness of the programs and youth speakers who testified to the program’s ill effects on their lives and the lives of their peers.
View a video recording of the hearing here.
View a summary of the hearing here.
In the News
Minnesota Press Coverage of Sex Education
Sex education has continued to receive extensive statewide press coverage this legislative session. To view an updated list of coverage and links to stories, visit the Coalition's news page.
State Legislatures Move Closer to Progressive Sexuality Education Laws
Legislatures in states across the country, including Minnesota, made significant gains on sexuality education during the early months of their 2008 sessions.
Read more at www.siecus.org.
Research
Abstinence-Only Programs Under Fire
Over the past decade, the US federal government has heavily promoted programs that advocate sexual abstinence as the key strategy for dealing with adolescent sexuality, but studies are demonstrating that the approach has little impact on teen sexual behavior or in preventing pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Abstinence-Only Programs Under Fire.
Resources
Science and Success, Second Edition: Sex Education and Other Programs that Work to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections
Until recently, teen pregnancy and birth rates had declined in the United States. Despite these declines, US teen birth and sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates remain among the highest in the industrialized world. Given the need to focus limited prevention resources on effective programs, Advocates for Youth undertook exhaustive reviews of existing research to compile a list of those programs proven effective by rigorous evaluation. Nineteen programs appeared in Science and Success when it was first published in 2003; seven additional programs are included in Science and Success, Second Edition. Read more at www.advocatesforyouth.org
State Policies Affecting the Assurance of Confidential Care for Adolescents
This fact sheet from Incenter Strategies provides an overview of states' minor consent laws and new information on the use of explanation-of-benefit (EOB) statements by state Medicaid agencies and their contracting managed care organizations. To view the fact sheet, click here.