[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 137 (Thursday, October 17, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    PROTECT OUR YOUTH FROM MEDICALLY INACCURATE AND MISLEADING SEX 
               EDUCATION IN CLASSROOMS ACROSS THE NATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. LUIS V. GUTIERREZ

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 16, 2002

  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing the ``Medically 
Accurate and Objective Sex Education Act,'' a bill that would require 
our schools to teach medically accurate and objective factual 
information as part of any sex education course.
  There has been an increase in the number of schools using curricula 
that provide medically inaccurate and misleading information. Some of 
these medical inaccuracies include calling condoms ``antiquated'' or 
citing failure rates as high as 70 percent, as well as giving, 
erroneous symptoms and outcomes of sexually transmitted diseases. Other 
specific examples of medically inaccurate information in current sex 
education courses include:
  A program indicating that the ``published condom failure rates for 
pregnancy prevention are between 10 and 30 percent.''
  It has been documented that if used consistently and correctly, 
condoms are 98 percent effective in preventing pregnancies.
  A program incorrectly stating that Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) can 
only be passed through sexual intercourse.
  It has been documented that HPV can be passed through female-to-
female genital sex.
  Without using statistics, one program concluded that ``infectious 
syphilis rates have more than doubled among teens since the mid-
1980s.''
  However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services announced that ``the U.S. has a 
unique but narrow window of opportunity to eliminate syphilis while 
cases are still declining.''
  Inaccurate information regarding contraception and STD/HIV prevention 
can make sex education both dangerous and counterproductive. 
Responsible sex education, by contrast, is an important component of a 
strategy to reduce unintended pregnancies, reduce the number of 
abortions and reduce STD incidence. The American Medical Association, 
the Institute of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health support 
the use of sex education that is medically accurate.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in ensuring that sex 
education curricula contain accurate medical information that can help 
young people develop a healthy understanding of their sexuality, so 
they can make responsible and educated decisions throughout their 
lives.

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