Healthy Youth Act
The Healthy Youth Act requires all sex education taught to students in Washington public schools be medically accurate and adhere to the Guidelines for Sexual Health Information and Disease Prevention. NARAL Pro-Choice Washington and our allies have been working to pass this legislation for five years and have worked to build support both at the grassroots level and with our elected officials in Olympia.
The Healthy Youth Act requires any sex education taught to students in Washington State be medically accurate and adhere to the Guidelines for Sexual Health Information and Disease Prevention. NARAL Pro-Choice Washington along with our allies have been working to pass this legislation for five years, building support both at the grassroots level and with our elected officials in Olympia, and are confident that the bill will pass in the 2007 Legislative Session.
The Healthy Youth Act addresses a growing public health issue; STD rates are rising at alarming rates in Washington State and students don’t necessarily have access to reliable information and on how to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, and unintended pregnancy. In addition, the Healthy Youth Act will save Washington State money. Between 1991 and 2004 there were more than 114,400 teen births in Washington, costing taxpayers a total of $2.2 billion.
The Washington State House passed the Healthy Youth Act (ESSB 5297) on April 11, 2007 by a vote of 63 - 34. The bill had been approved in the State Senate with a vote of 30 - 19 on March 7th.
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