OP-ED, "SENATE FAILS SEX ED," BY JOAN MALIN, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY, METRO NY (07/16/07)  

Once again, the New York State Senate, under the leadership of Joe Bruno, has failed our city's teens and families. 

By refusing to even consider the Healthy Teens Act -- common-sense legislation that would have provided resources to fund age-appropriate, medically accurate sex education in our state's schools -- the senate leadership did not represent our state's values.

Over 85% of New Yorkers -- across party lines, religions and demographics -- agree that schools should teach comprehensive sex ed.  And studies show that comprehensive sex education programs that include information about abstinence and birth control help young people make healthier decisions about sex.

Our city's teens desperately need this information -- New York has one of the highest teen pregnancy and STD rates in the nation.  According to the Center for Disease Control, 42 percent New York City teens have had sexual intercourse, 30 percent during the past three months, and 30 percent without a condom.

Right now, New York State sex ed is haphazard at best.  Programs are left to the resources of individual schools and the comfort and training levels of individual principals and teachers.  And while the benefits of comprehensive sex ed far surpass ineffective abstinence only programs that reality is not reflected in funding.  New York State currently spends $13 million (in federal and state funds) on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and no dedicated money on comprehensive sex education. 

Upon hearing of the bill's de facto defeat, a teen I work with said: "I just cannot understand why someone would tell me that a teen shouldn't have the information they need to protect themselves if and when they decide to have sex."  This young woman has often stood up in her own health class to answer her peers' questions and to correct misinformation.  Her classmates are lucky to have her there, but what about the innumerable students who don't?

The Healthy Teens Act would have been a valuable first step in providing critical information, but despite the fact that it passed the New York State Assembly with a solid majority and was favorably reported out of the Senate Health Committee two years in a row, the Senate leadership again refused to even allow the bill to come to the floor for a vote.

The Senate is returning on July 16 so they have one final opportunity to do the right thing.  They need to get their heads out of the sand, do what's right for our teens and pass this bill.  Legislators are elected to represent the wishes of their constituents. So far, that could not be further from the truth.