The Healthy Teens Act requires Florida public schools that already teach information about sexually transmitted infections, family planning, and pregnancy to provide medically-accurate and comprehensive sex education.
Impact:
Protects Florida teens by providing comprehensive sex education – including facts about abstinence and methods of preventing unintended pregnancy and the spread of diseases.
Referred to PreK-12 Policy Committee, Health Care Services Policy Committee, PreK-12 Appropriations Committee, Education Policy Council; HTA failed to be given a hearing and utilmately died this session
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – American squeamishness about talking about sex has helped keep common sexually transmitted infections far too common, especially among vulnerable teens, U.S. researchers reported Monday.
Disproportionate Impact on Racial Minorities Persists
Adolescent girls ages 15–19 years had the largest reported number of chlamydia and gonorrhea cases (409,531) when compared to any other age group, followed closely by women ages 20-24, according to an annual report on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report finds that more than 1.5 million cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea were reported in 2008.
Contrary to the perception of most Americans, the majority of teen parents are from households that are not in poverty and that are not headed by single parents. These findings and others were released on October 28, 2009 by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
This year, an estimated 729,000 American teens will become pregnant and nearly 4 million will contract a sexually transmitted infection. This is a preventable health care crisis. And we finally have elected leaders committed to doing something about it.
You can make a difference for teens in Florida by sharing this video with friends and family and starting the conversation about the importance of comprehenensive sex education. Repost, retweet and share widely!
Want to share your own video testimonial with us? Send us a brief video of why comprehensive sex education is important to you. Send to info@fappa.org.
Planning is power! Family planning services allow people to space children, prepare for parenthood, pursue a career before starting a family, or avoid pregnancy altogether. Its a tool that should be available to everyone no matter their income or insurance coverage. Tune in to this FUN video see why we think family planning is so important.
The merger earlier this summer of Planned Parenthood of North Central Florida and Planned Parenthood of Northeast Florida is already having an impact for women in Tallahassee, who have seen a significant decrease in contraceptive costs.
