Update Sex Education Policies to Address Public Health Concerns

Resolved Section(s):
RESOLVED: That the AMA amend policy H-170.968 with insertions and deletions as follows:H-170.968 Sexuality Education, Abstinence, and Distribution of Condoms in SchoolsOur AMA: (1) Recognizes that the primary responsibility for family life education is in the home, and additionally supports the concept of a complementary family life and sexuality education program in the schools at all levels, at local option and direction; (2) Urges schools to implement comprehensive, developmentally appropriate relevant sexuality education programs that: (a) provide medically accurate information relevant to decision-making based on the weight of the scientific evidence and consistent with generally recognized scientific theory are based on rigorous, peer reviewed science; (b) are based on strategies that have been published and peer-reviewed with findings replicated in subsequent studies to consistently show promise for delaying the onset of sexual activity and a reduction in reducing risky sexual behaviors and practices that puts adolescents at risk for increase adolescents’ risks for adverse health outcomes related to adolescent pregnancy and contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases and for becoming pregnant include discussion about the natural history as well as transmission of sexually transmissible infections, screening of sexually transmissible infections, and community resources for screening of sexually transmissible infections; (c) include an integrated strategy for making condoms available to students and for providing both factual information and skill-building related to reproductive biology, sexual abstinence, sexual responsibility, contraceptives including condoms, alternatives in birth control, and other issues aimed at prevention of pregnancy and sexual transmission of diseases facilitate access and reduce barriers in obtaining oral contraceptives, condoms, and other contraceptive methods, compares efficacy of contraceptive methods, informs students of mechanisms of obtaining different forms of contraceptives, and provides instruction on appropriate use of contraceptives; (d) utilize classroom teachers and other professionals who have shown an aptitude for working with young people and who have received special training that includes addressing the needs of gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth and involve the development of skills concerning effective communication in interpersonal relationships, interpersonal problem-solving, incorporates discussions on non-consensual sexual encounters, the role of by-standers and peers in the prevention of sexual as well as dating violence, and the social psychology of "victim blaming”; (e) include ample involvement of parents, health professionals, and other concerned members of the community in the development of the program; and (f) are part of an overall health education program;(3) Continues to monitor future research findings related to emerging initiatives that include abstinence-only, school-based sexuality education, and school-based condom availability programs that address sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy prevention for young people and report back to the House of Delegates as appropriate;(4) Will work with the United States Surgeon General to design programs that address increasing access to condoms, affordable oral contraceptives, and free or low-cost anonymous testing for sexually transmissible diseases in communities of color, as well as other socioeconomically disadvantaged and youth and adolescents in high risk situations within the context of a comprehensive school health education program;(5) Opposes the sole use of abstinence-only education, as defined by the 1996 Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Act (P.L. 104-193), within school systems;(6) Endorses comprehensive family life education in lieu of abstinence-only education, unless research shows abstinence-only education to be superior in preventing negative health outcomes;(7) Supports federal funding of comprehensive sex education programs that stress the importance of abstinence in preventing prevent unwanted teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and also teach about contraceptive choices and safer sex, and opposes federal funding of community-based programs that do not show evidence-based benefits; and(8) Extends its support of comprehensive family-life education to community-based programs promoting abstinence as the best method to prevent teenage pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases while also discussing the roles of condoms and birth control, as endorsed for school systems in this policy. (CSA Rep. 7 and Reaffirmation I-99; Reaffirmed: Res. 403, A-01; Modified Res. 441, A-03; Appended: Res. 834, I-04; Reaffirmed: CSAPH Rep. 7, A-09); and be it furtherRESOLVED: That MSMS advocate for sex education programs that responsibly address individual and public health well-being by facilitating increases in access to contraceptives and designed with the primary goal of reducing risk of contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections while also utilizing a strategy of promoting social mobility to reduce teen pregnancy through consistent career planning and academic assistance programming.

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