Comprehensive Sex Education
NARAL Pro-Choice Montana believes that denying Montana’s teens access to accurate information regarding sexuality, pregnancy prevention, and STD prevention is bad public health policy. The United States has unacceptably high rates of teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and HIV/AIDS infections. To address this challenge, NARAL Pro-Choice Montana supports honest, age-appropriate, and medically accurate sex education that promotes abstinence and provides young people with the information they need to protect themselves. In searching for solutions to this crisis, some individuals and groups have focused on abstinence-only education. But while abstinence education is an essential part of sex education, it should not be the only lesson taught. Research shows that honest, medically accurate sex education works. "Abstinence-only" programs aren’t proven effective, and some studies even show that young people who go through these programs are less likely to use contraception and protect themselves when they become sexually active. Making matters worse, many of these "abstinence-only" programs include blatantly false and inaccurate information. Young people deserve better than this – and so do taxpayers. We need to protect teens by promoting abstinence while simultaneously providing teens with the contraceptive and STD/HIV prevention information they need to make responsible decisions if and when they become sexually active. To get involved in promoting comprehensive sex education in your community, contact Alex at mtnaral@mt.net.
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