Sex Education Bill Stalls in Committee, by Nelson Medina

Are teachers telling their students everything they need to know about sex?

Some people believe that teaching students abstinence is the answer. Others think that students should know that facts--they do not think that telling students that they should wait until marriage to have sexual intercourse is effective. Students are not always informed about being safe and using contraceptives, and because of that, Utah has high rates of sexually transmitted diseases such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, which are usually transmitted during sex.

So, is the answer to make contraceptives a required part of the Utah reproductive education curriculum? That is what Senate Bill 54 suggested before reaching a standstill in committee, without even a vote. This bill, titled "Health Education Amendments," would modify the requirements in health classes. A general discussion of contraceptives with its benefits and limitations would be included in selected instructional materials about human reproduction. But some people thought this would liberalize the system, reported The Salt Lake Tribune.

Bill sponsor Senator Stephen H. Urquhart (R-St. George) told me that he thinks the committee didn’t fully understand the bill. He said fear and uncertainty were getting in the way of some legislators even being able to talk about the bill. His reason for sponsoring the bill was for the benefit of clarifying the health education curriculum. Previously, Sen. Urquhart had been involved in the Expedited Partner Therapy Treatment bill, which really opened his eyes to how much disease there is in Utah. He said he thought Utah was doing something wrong in health education. Sen. Urquhart found out that not all teachers teach contraceptives because they think it is illegal. His goal with SB54 was to clarify the curriculum and unify what is taught in the classrooms.

I also spoke with Emma Waitzman, a senior at my school, West High. She is very involved in the process at the legislature and lobbying for better sex education. Emma believes that students have the right to learn about sex. She was surprised when speaking to different people at the committee hearing of SB54 because of how uninformed they were. Emma told me that some people said things that were completely untrue about the bill because they were ignorant and did not take the time to understand what the bill would really do for students. Emma and group members are holding a protest on Saturday, March 6, to speak out on this issue.

A similar bill to SB54 is HB127 sponsored by Representative Lynn N. Hemingway (D-Salt Lake) but the bill has not even been assigned to a committee. Although there's only about a week left of the session, we hope this bill makes it through.