AB629 (Sexual
Health Education Accountability Act)
Good afternoon Madam Chair and
committee members:
I am Dr. Norman Constantine, a
senior scientist with the Public Health Institute, and clinical professor of
community health and human development at the UC Berkeley School of Public
Health. I am lead author of a series of reports titled “No Time for
Complacency: Teen Births in California.” This series includes biannual
analyses of costs to taxpayers and society of teen births and sexually
transmitted infections among California youth. Our most recently published
study analyses parent opinions on sex education policy in different parts of
our state.
California is already a national
beacon for effective teen pregnancy prevention policy and programs. Since 1991,
we have led the nation in reducing our teen birth rate. Yet teen pregnancy is
still a significant issue. This year we expect more than 50,000 births to teen
girls – that’s 1 out of every 25 California girls, aged 15-19 years giving
birth, in just one year. And after more than a decade of declines, the number
of teens births in California began to rise again in 2004.
As we found in No Time for
Complacency, teen births in California now cost taxpayers more than 1.5
billion dollars each year, while total societal costs reach 3.4 billion
annually. We also calculate that newly acquired sexually transmitted infections
among California youth each year incur over a billion dollars in medical costs
alone.
Despite our progress, we can and
must do better. The evidence is compelling that comprehensive, medically
accurate sex education is an effective and responsible way of investing state
funds. Our recently published statewide survey shows that parents in every
region of the state overwhelming support comprehensive sex education.
California’s Comprehensive Sexual Health and HIV Prevention Education Act was
a big step forward. But, because it applies only to schools, more than $25
million annually of state-funded teen pregnancy prevention programs are still
not accountable.
AB 629 will close this loophole by
setting a minimal baseline of medical accuracy and completeness for these
programs, while encouraging local program flexibility to meet their
communities’ needs. With two out of every three teens having sexual intercourse
before they leave high school, surely we cannot afford to promote ignorance.
On behalf of the Public Health
Institute, I respectfully urge you to vote aye on AB 629.
Thank you.