We support... responsible sexuality education.

The Women's Health and Family Planning Association of Texas (WHFPT) believes that sexuality is an integral part of a healthy life and encompasses an individual’s intellectual, spiritual, emotional and biological characteristics, as well as family, cultural and religious values. WHFPT supports responsible sexuality education that encourages abstinence, but that also provides accurate information on how to avoid unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and infections. Responsible sexuality education provides young adults with the necessary skills and correct information, enabling them to make healthy choices about their sexuality throughout their lives.

WHFPT advocates for responsible sexuality education.
The primary goal of sexuality education is the promotion of sexual health and the recognition that sexuality education is a lifeling process of acquiring accurate information and forming attitudes, beliefs and values about identity, relationships and intimacy. WHFPT believes that responsible sexuality education programs for individuals of all ages must emphasize the importance of making informed, responsible choices that are consistent with each individual’s personal values.

Responsible sexuality education should:

• involve parents in a meaningful way and help foster better communications between parents and children
• encourage and value a person’s right to choose abstinence
• provide scientifically accurate, up-to-date and complete information
• teach critical thinking and analytical skills on how to resist peer pressure
• recognize and value diversity
• treat all topics in a balanced way
• be free of gender or racial bias

In the United States, responsible sexuality education has the support of a majority of the public including Texans. Almost 9 in 10 parents want their children to have it. Yet, only 5% of children in the United States receive adequate sexuality education. (1996 National Guidelines, Task Force, Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, 2nd edition)

Such a small number of children receiving sexuality education may help expalin why the United States has the highest rates of unintended pregnancy, especially among teens, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and infections in the industrialized world. STD rates in the U.S are 50-100 times higher than other industrialized nations. (November, 1996, U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Division of STD Prevention, The Challenge of STD Prevention in the United States)

Consider the Facts

• Texas ranks 8th nationally in teenage pregnancy rates, with 123 pregnancies annually per 1,000 women ages 15-19. (January,1998, Facts in Brief, Alan Guttmacher Institute)
• 56% of young women and 73% of young men have had intercourse by age 18. (1994, Sex and America Teenagers, Alan Guttmacher Institute)
• Every year 3 million teens, about 1 in 4 sexually active teens, acquire an STD. (1994, Sex and America Teenagers, Alan Guttmacher Institute)
  
• In 1997, Texas ranked 9th in the nation for reported cases of chlamydia and 18th for gonnorrhea. (January/February, 1997, Texas Department of Health HIV Surveillance Report)
• Access to responsible sexuality education does not increase sexual activity among teens. (No Easy Answers: Research Findings on Programs to Reduce Teen Pregnancy, Douglas Kirby, Ph.D; National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 1997)