Washington State House Approves Healthy Youth Act: Bill Headed to Governor's Desk
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 11, 2007
OLYMPIA, WA - The Washington State House passed the Healthy Youth Act (ESSB 5297) today by a vote of 63 - 34. The bill had been approved in the State Senate with a vote of 30 - 19 on March 7th. The Healthy Youth Act is quality assurance for sex education in public schools. The bill requires that school districts that choose to teach sex education provide medically accurate and comprehensive information. Anti-choice Representatives Ahern, Anderson, Bailey, Buri, Curtis, Dunn, Haler, Hinkle, McCune, McDonald, Newhouse, Roach, Ross, Schindler, Strow, Sump, and Warnick offered 33 amendments attempting to undermine the bill, all of which were defeated. "After five years of work on this important issue, NARAL Pro-Choice Washington is very pleased that the Legislature has finally acted to protect the health of Washington teens by approving the Healthy Youth Act," said Karen Cooper, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington. "Teens need reliable information regarding contraception and sexual health in order to make good decisions throughout their lives," said Cooper. "I am amazed that giving teens accurate, complete health information is still controversial in 2007, but clearly it is for some legislators," Cooper added, referring to the four hours of debate prior to final passage of the bill. "A 2004 statewide survey demonstrated that 78% of Washington parents think we should be teaching ninth and tenth graders about contraception, birth control, and condoms, yet we know that many Washington schools only provide inaccurate abstinence-only programs," Cooper said. "The need for this legislation is clear and we look forward to Governor Gregoire signing The Healthy Youth Act it into law." 
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