Under existing law, any program or curriculum in a public K-12 school that includes sex education or the human reproductive process must emphasize abstinence as the only effective protection against unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. This bill would require any sex education or human reproductive curriculum or program in a public K-12 school to exclusively teach sexual risk avoidance and encourage abstinence from all sexual activity. This bill would further provide for the sex education and human reproductive curriculum or program in public K-12 schools, including the provision of information about state laws relating to the financial cost of pregnancy and child care, abortion, and adoption, and instruction about parenting responsibilities. This bill would prohibit any sex education or human reproductive curriculum or program from: (i) providing a referral to or information about how to acquire an abortion; (ii) misrepresenting the efficacy of or demonstrating the use of contraceptives; and (iii) using images that are sexually explicit. This bill would prohibit any local board of education from using the services of any individual or organization that does not endorse sexual risk avoidance or that advocates for or performs abortions. This bill would require each parent or guardian to be provided with notice before sex education or information about the human reproductive process is provided to students, and would provide each parent or guardian with the ability to opt his or her child out of the curriculum or program. This bill would also allow the Attorney General to enforce the requirements of this bill.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 16-40A-2