DENVER — Democrats have proposed a controversial state bill that would get rid of abstinence-only sex education, which is taught in some charter and rural schools despite a 2013 law calling for "comprehensive" sex education.
If passed, all Colorado public schools that currently offer abstinence-only education would have to switch to offering either a state-designed comprehensive sex education curriculum or nothing at all.
Backers of the bill, including Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, say abstinence-only education causes more harm than good. They point to studies that show abstinence-only is “ineffective at best and overtly harmful at worst.” That comes from a 2007 federal report that said abstinence-only had no impact on youth abstinence, condom use, age at first intercourse, number of sexual partners or knowledge of the risks of unprotected sex.
The report covered abstinence programs funded by Title V, the same federal program that now funds abstinence-only curriculum in some Colorado schools.
Supporters said Colorado received more than $728,000 to teach abstinence-only sex education, also known as sexual risk avoidance, in 2018.
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