Talk about odd bedfellows.
An unlikely group of lawmakers and organizations has come together to pitch a bill this session to change sex education in Utah. It's a bill that has a Republican senator, a Democratic representative, the Planned Parenthood Action Council (PPAC) and the state PTA working together.
"It's just turned into the most amazing process where people are working together on both sides of the aisle to make sure we're doing whatever we can to make sure our kids have information to keep them safe," said Melissa Bird, executive director of PPAC.
Now, state law allows educators to teach students about contraceptives, but it prohibits "advocacy or encouragement" of their use, leading some educators to avoid the topic out of fear of accidentally crossing the line. Sen. Stephen Urquhart's bill, now in draft form, would remove that prohibition and instead require teachers to talk about the limitations and benefits of contraceptives and the importance of parental guidance in such matters.
The bill would still prohibit advocacy of homosexuality, advocacy of sexual activity outside marriage, instruction in the intricacies of intercourse and explicit demonstrations of contraceptive devices.
It would also require the State Board of Education to select instructional materials about contraception for districts to use. Urquhart, R-St. George, said the State Office of Education could possibly create a video or presentation for teachers to show students. Parents would still be allowed to opt their children out of the lesson. Urquhart said he would also likely allow districts to opt out if they don't want to teach about contraception.
"We clearly have kids in Utah engaging in risky sexual behavior," said Urquhart. "You look at our disease rates, our pregnancy rates ... we have risky behavior that is in need of some greater understanding, appreciation and prevention."
Between 2004 and 2008 in Utah, chlamydia rates rose by 38 percent in adolescent girls and by 66 percent in adolescent boys. And in 2008, more than 18 of every 1,000 girls ages 15 to 17 had a baby, according to the Utah Department of Health. Nationwide, one in three ninth-graders has had sexual intercourse at least once, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Urquhart has been working on the bill for months with the PTA, PPAC, Rep. Lynn Hemingway, D-Holladay and others.
Hemingway introduced a similar bill last session that also would have removed the language about "advocacy and encouragement" of contraceptives, but that bill died in committee after opposition from the PTA and others.
But Liz Zentner, state PTA health commissioner, said she hopes the PTA can get behind this bill. The PTA's legislative action committee hasn't yet taken an official stance on the bill but will meet later this month.
"The whole thing I like about this bill is the emphasis on abstinence and the language he put in there about parents being the principal sex educators of their children," Zentner said. "You can't just take away the prohibition on [encouraging] contraceptives without adding all this other stuff in there, and this is doing that."
The PTA also had concerns with an earlier version of the bill that proposed splitting sex education into two tracks: one that was abstinence-only and another that was more comprehensive. Zentner said she worried the first track would be too restrictive and the second track not restrictive enough. But Urquhart abandoned that idea after school districts and educators expressed concern over the logistical difficulties of offering two tracks.
Hemingway, who had been working on the two-track bill, said the new bill is a good solution. Hemingway said he will be the House floor sponsor of Urquhart's bill.
Urquhart said the various groups and individuals involved in creating his bill had "fantastic conversations" in reaching agreement.
"I think the glue there is everyone realizes we're having problems in the state with risky sexual behavior," Urquhart said. "That's what's bringing people to the table and keeping people at the table."
