For Immediate Release: February 27, 2024
Contact: Christina Clark Okarmus, Alabama Campaign for Adolescent Sexual Health
[email protected], 334-265-8004
May is Sex Ed for All Month
Montgomery, Ala. — During the month of May, the Alabama Campaign for Adolescent Sexual Health, along with its partners and allies, will observe Sex Ed for All Month. Sex Ed for All Month began in 2019 and is especially important this year as the Alabama Legislature attempts to dismantle sex education in Alabama public schools.
Alabama has the 5th highest teen birth rate in the country[1], and teen STI and HIV rates continue to rise[2]. Over 40% of Alabama high school students reported having at least one sexual experience, and nearly half of those reported not using a condom during their last sexual intercourse.[3] Despite these facts, the Alabama Legislature is spending its final days working to pass HB195, a bill that would require public schools to exclusively teach abstinence-only-until-marriage education (also called “sexual risk avoidance” in the bill).
“Last month we brought over 200 advocates to the State House to tell lawmakers that HB195 is bad for our kids,” said executive director, Christina Clark Okarmus. “Young people tell us all the time that they need more and better sex education – HB195 would be less and worse.”
Sex education gives young people age-appropriate, medically accurate, and culturally relevant information and answers to their questions about sex and relationships without being shamed or judged. It has been proven to positively impact young people’s lives as well as reduce teen pregnancy, STIs, and HIV. But too many young people in Alabama don’t have access to sex education, or the programs in their school are shaming or inaccurate. HB195 will increase this problem.
Alabama parents, as well as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and the Society of Adolescent Medicine (SAM), all disagree with abstinence-only education. Abstinence is one important piece of sex education, but young people also need medically accurate information to protect themselves if and when they engage in sexual activity.
“Young people in Alabama deserve sex education, and we urge legislators, decision makers, and others in positions of power to support young people during this Sex Ed for All Month,” said Clark Okarmus.
The Alabama Campaign for Adolescent Sexual Health champions healthy adolescent development through medically accurate and equitable sexual health education and services. Learn more at alabamacampaign.org.
-END-
[1] Power to Decide, https://powertodecide.org/what-we-do/information/national-state-data/alabama
[2] Alabama Department of Public Health