Women's Health Policy Report: Bipartisan S.C. Bill Would Update ...

April 11, 2013 ? A bipartisan group of South Carolina House members on Tuesday proposed legislation (HB 3435) that would update the state's 25-year-old sex education law to include new lessons on contraception and sexually transmitted infections, while maintaining a focus on abstinence, the Columbia State reports.

The current law prohibits schools from discussing certain topics, including sex outside of marriage and any non-reproductive sexual activities, unless they are discussed in the context of STIs.

The proposed legislation would eliminate the language banning those topics, as well as a requirement that discussions on contraception pertain only to "future family planning." The bill also would give the state more control over what school districts teach, require sex education teachers to undergo training specific to reproductive health and pregnancy prevention, and mandate that sex education materials be medically accurate and research-based.

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State Rep. Jenny Horne (R) -- one of the bill's sponsors -- noted that parents would still be able to opt to remove their children from sex education classes.

State Rep. B.R. Skelton (R), another sponsor of the bill, said that the state needs to take steps to reduce teen pregnancies. The bill also would address "the failure of some (school) districts to promote medically accurate information" in their sex education programs, he said.

However, Jay Ragley, a spokesperson for the state Education Department, said the bill "weakens the state's long-held position that abstinence-only education is the preferred method of health education." He added that South Carolina School Superintendent Mick Zais opposes the additional training requirements for teachers (Self, Columbia State, 4/9).

The information contained in this publication reflects media coverage of women?s health issues and does not necessarily reflect the views of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

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The Editors

Debra Ness, publisher & president, National Partnership

Andrea Friedman, associate editor & director of reproductive health programs, National Partnership

Marya Torrez, associate editor & senior reproductive health policy counsel, National Partnership

Melissa Safford, associate editor & policy advocate for reproductive health, National Partnership

Perry Sacks, assistant editor & health program associate, National Partnership

Cindy Romero, assistant editor & communications assistant, National Partnership

Justyn Ware, editor

Amanda Wolfe, editor-in-chief

Heather Drost, Hanna Jaquith, Marcelle Maginnis, Ashley Marchand and Michelle Stuckey, staff writers

Tucker Ball, director of new media, National Partnership

Source: http://www.nationalpartnership.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=39013

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