NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Applauds Healthy Youth Act Introduction
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lisa Subeck September 29, 2009 608-358-7090 NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Applauds Healthy Youth Act Introduction Bill Ensures Sexuality Education in Wisconsin Schools is Comprehensive and Medically Accurate Madison, WI – Today, State Representative Tamara Grigsby and State Senator Lena Taylor announced the introduction of the Healthy Youth Act. The Healthy Youth Act sets guidelines to ensure that all sexuality education programs taught in Wisconsin’s public schools are comprehensive, age appropriate, and medically accurate.NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin applauds Representative Grigsby and Senator Taylor for introducing this measure to protect our state’s young people against pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. “With nearly 11,000 teen pregnancies in Wisconsin each year and an STI rate among teen girls of 1 in 4 nationally, we have a public health crisis on our hands,” says Lisa Subeck, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin. “Wisconsin’s youth need comprehensive sexuality education to turn this crisis around.” In 2008, 45% of Wisconsin high school students self-reported being sexually active. Only 61% of those sexually active students reported using a condom during their last sexual encounter. Responsible sexuality education including information about both abstinence and contraception has been shown to delay sexual activity among teens and reduce the incidences of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection. “The Healthy Youth Act is a common sense measure that recognizes the need to arm our teens with the information they need to make responsible choices,” says Subeck. “NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin thanks Representative Grigsby and Senator Taylor for introducing this measure to reduce the rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection among Wisconsin’s teens.”
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