2005-2006 Regular Session House HR 5598

Summary: The Guarantee of Medical Accuracy in Sex Education Act (GMA) would make a deliberate effort to protect the nation’s youth by ensuring that medical inaccuracies and other errant data would not be included in federally funded sex education curricula. The GMA, if passed, would apply to all federally funded health education programs; however, the GMA’s primary aim is to curtail inaccuracies in abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula. Major medical associations and a House committee report revealed that abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula often teach misleading or false information about condom efficacy, transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, and pregnancy prevention. This bill would ensure that the America’s youth receive evidence-based sex education that is derived from science, not ideological conjecture.

What You Should Know: The Bush Administration is allowing the use of taxpayer money to educate young people with inaccurate and misleading information about their sexuality. A 2006 position paper by the Society of Adolescent Medicine found that these programs “provide incomplete and/or misleading information.” Additionally, a 2004 Congressional review of 13 of the most frequently used curricula in federally funded abstinence-only-until-marriage programs revealed that the majority of these programs contained errant medical inaccuracies, gender stereotyping, and both anti-abortion and anti-gay undertones. Since 1998, close to $1 billion federal taxpayer dollars have been spent on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, and the Bush Administration has suggested another $204 million for FY 2007. This act would ensure that the federal taxpayer dollars go toward sex education that adequately equips youth with proven and helpful information.

Primary Sponsor(s): Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA)

Introduction Date: 06/14/2006

Last Major Action: 06/14/2006.  Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.