Support REAL Sex Education Programs

Recent reports say that 25 percent of all teenage girls in the U.S. have a sexually transmitted disease. This study is just the latest piece of evidence of a nationwide crisis in adolescent reproductive health - and unfortunately, the Bush administration continues to turn a blind eye to the problem. We need to get rid of the current deceptive approach of abstinence-only programs and put in place a federal sex-education program that gives teens the facts - including both the benefits of abstinence and the facts about safe sex and how to prevent the spread of STDs. The Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act will do just that.
Dear Senator [Name],

I urge you to co-sponsor the Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act (S.972), which would establish the first-ever federal sex-education program.

With recent statistics that 25 percent of teenage girls are infected with an STD, it is becoming increasingly clear that our sex education system is faulty. For years, Washington has flooded unproven abstinence-only programs with our taxpayer dollars, while no federal program is dedicated to honest, medically accurate sex education.

This huge financial investment in abstinence-only programs conflicts with scientific and medical research: abstinence-only programs are not proven effective and may result in riskier behavior by teenagers.
Responsible sex-education programs, on the other hand, emphasize abstinence and contraception. Research shows that these programs have demonstrated positive results such as delayed initiation of sex, reduced frequency of sex, and increased contraceptive use among teens.

The federal government's focus on abstinence-only programs also runs counter to the preferences of parents, the clear majority of whom want their children to have medically accurate sex education. According to a 2004 survey, 94 percent of Americans think it is appropriate to teach young people about birth control.

The REAL Act will begin to correct this egregious imbalance in federal policy by funding medically accurate sex-education programs on par with what is currently being spent on unproven and misleading abstinence-only programs. As your constituent, I strongly urge you to co-sponsor this legislation and ensure comprehensive sex education for young people.

[Your comment here]

Thank you for your time.
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