Responsible Education About Life Act - REAL (S. 972 and H.R. 1653)
Introduced by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)

What it is
Why you should support it
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What it is>>

The Responsible Education About Life Act – or REAL – is a bill that would provide $50 million annually to states for comprehensive sexuality education programs that

• are age appropriate and medically accurate;
  
• stress the value of abstinence while not ignoring those young people who have had or are having sexual intercourse;
  
• provide information about the health benefits and side effects of all contraceptive and barrier methods used to prevent pregnancy and/or to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted disease, including HIV/AIDS;
  
• encourage family communication between parent and child about sexuality;
  
• teach young people the skills to make responsible decisions about sexuality, including how to avoid unwanted verbal, physical, and sexual advances and how to avoid making verbal, physical, and sexual advances that are not wanted by the other party;
• develop healthy relationships, including the prevention of dating and sexual violence;
  
• teach young people how alcohol and drug use can affect responsible decision making; and
• do not teach or promote religion.
  

Currently there are no federal funds available for comprehensive sexuality education programs – only for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. If passed, programs funded under this law will supply young people with the tools to make informed decisions, resist peer pressure, set goals, manage stress, be responsible, understand and accept diversity, build healthy relationships, and have access to up-to-date information about how they can protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.

Programs funded under this law would be prohibited from discriminating against individuals discriminate on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Over the past 10 years, more than $1.5 billion in federal and state funding have been provided to failed abstinence-only education programs that fall far short of meeting the needs of young people. In order to receive federal abstinence-only funding, grantees must agree to exclude information about the health benefits of contraception to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases from their educational programs. Currently, there is no federal appropriation designated for comprehensive sexuality education.

Why you should support it>>

• Adolescents have a right to complete information on sexual and reproductive health. This right is recognized in international agreements, beginning in 1994, that call for young people to have in formal and non-formal schooling, education about population and health issues.  This includes sexual and reproductive health issues to promote the well-being of adolescents, enhance gender equality and equity as well as responsible sexual behavior, protect them from early and unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, and sexual abuse, incest and violence. The REAL Act would be a step forward in ensuring that American young people have access to quality, comprehensive sexuality education.
• Comprehensive sex ed benefits young people. Strong evidence exists that young people who receive comprehensive sexuality education become sexually active later than other teens, have fewer partners, and are more likely to use contraceptives when they do have sex.  This is why half of the states have opted out of requesting funding from the federal government for abstinence-only-until marriage programs.
• Abstinence-only programs are not effective. Studies have shown that teenagers who receive abstinence-only education are less likely to delay sexual activity and less likely to use contraceptives when they do become sexually active than teens who receive comprehensive sex education. One study revealed that 88 percent of students who made "virginity pledges" (a common feature in abstinence-only programs) wound up having sex before marriage. The study also showed that the students who took virginity pledges were more likely to contract a sexually transmitted infection than those who did not take the pledges.  More and more evidence has mounted that these investments in abstinence only programs do not improve the well being of young people.
• Abstinence-only programs contain misleading, biased, and inaccurate information. A Congressional report found that two-thirds of the federally funded abstinence-only programs contained misleading or inaccurate information about contraception, genetics, and sexually transmitted infections. Many of them misrepresent scientific data on contraceptive effectiveness by comparing "perfect use" statistics on abstinence to "typical use" statistics on condoms and other forms of contraception. Some even teach that exposure to sweat and tears are risk factors for HIV transmission, caution that 5 to 10 percent of women who have legal abortions will become sterile, and present the view that life begins at conception as undisputed scientific fact.  In October 2006, the non-partisan US Government Accountability Office informed the Department of Health and Human Services that it is in violation of federal law for failing to enforce a requirement that federally funded grantees must provide medically accurate information about the effectiveness of condoms.
• Abstinence-only programs promote gender stereotypes. One federally-funded curriculum instructs: "Women gauge their happiness and judge their success by their relationships. Men's happiness and success hinge on their accomplishments." Sex Respect, an abstinence-only curriculum taught in Ohio, includes the following workbook text: "A guy who wants to respect girls is distracted by sexy clothes and remembers her for one thing. Is it fair that guys are turned on by their senses and women by their hearts?"
• Abstinence-only programs ignore lesbian, gay, and sexually active youth. By identifying marriage as the only context in which sexual activity is acceptable, abstinence-only programs discriminate against lesbian and gay youth living in states where same-sex marriage is illegal. Further, such programs are of negligible value to the 44 percent of U.S. adolescents in grades 9-12 who are already sexually active, not to mention those who are already parents.

Bill status>>

Take action>>

Right now, we need to build strong bipartisan support for this legislation in the House and Senate. Help ensure that all young people have access to critical health information and services.

Contact your Senators today and ask them to co-sponsor the REAL Act (S 611).

• Find your Senators' contact information. 

Contact your Representative today and ask them to co-sponsor the REAL Act (H.R. 768).

• Find your Representative's contact information.

For more information>>

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