Issue Position: Women's Issues - Sexual Health Education

Issue Position

The United States has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the industrialized world: 34 percent of America's young women become pregnant at least once before the age of 20; eight of ten teenage pregnancies are unintended. Although birth rates for U.S. teens have dropped in recent years, in 2004 more than ten percent of all U.S. births were to teenage mothers.

Rep. Eshoo believes Congress has a responsibility to present honest, fact-based sexual health education information to our nation's youth, and to ensure that they have access to appropriate counseling and care for issues affecting their reproductive health. Parents must always be the primary teachers when it comes to these personal decisions, but schools can offer valuable information to help keep children healthy and informed.

Rep. Eshoo has consistently supported funding for comprehensive sexual health education programs that include complete and medically accurate information about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and HIV prevention strategies, including abstinence.

In the 111th Congress, Rep. Eshoo cosponsored H.R. 1551, the Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act, which would provide grants to states to conduct comprehensive sexual education, including information about abstinence and contraception.

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