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ACTION ALERT!
Protect Sex Education for New York Teens!
Tell your State Senator to vote for the Healthy Teens Act! GMHC stands
with Family Planning Advocates of New York State in calling on comprehensive
sex education for New York’s teens, including contraception and disease prevention.
Call your State Senator through the switchboard at 518.455.2800 and
tell them your zip code. Make your voice heard. Tell your Senator that you
support age-appropriate, medically accurate sex education for New York's young
people. Send a message to your Senator to move the Healthy Teens Act to the floor
for a vote now!
Tell your Senator:
"Your support is crucial to move the Healthy Teens Act (S.5121c) through
committee and bring the bill to the floor for a vote before the end of session.
The Healthy Teens Act is critical to the health of New York's
young people. New York State's teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted
infection rates are among the highest in the country.
The Healthy Teens Act will help the very communities you serve
to address the issues of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted
infections. Young people need honest information to make informed and
healthy decisions. The legislation — which is NOT a mandate — would
establish a competitive grant program to provide resources to plan and
implement age-appropriate, medically accurate sex education programs.
72% of New Yorkers support the Healthy Teens Act. Like me, they
want schools to have resources to create programs that will make a
difference in the lives of young people in New York State. An investment
in the Healthy Teens Act will save lives and money.
We are counting on your leadership to bring the Healthy Teens Act
to the floor of the Senate for passage."
Passing the Healthy Teens Act will make a difference in the lives
of many young people who continue to be left in the dark when it comes
to sex education. We must empower our communities to address New York's
high rates HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections and unintended
pregnancy by providing them with needed resources.
On May 23, the Senate Health Committee favorably reported the Healthy
Teens Act. But there is still more you can do to ensure that the bill is
passed into law this year.
The Senate urgently needs to move the Healthy Teens Act to the
floor for a vote before the end of the legislative session on June 22. And
your Senator can play a key role in making it happen!
What's At Stake?
Urge Your Senator to Pass the Healthy Teens Act
- Rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections in
New York State are among the highest in the country. The data is
clear: the health of young people is at risk.
- More than $13 million is spent in New York State on abstinence-only
programs that prohibit teachers from discussing contraceptives except to
emphasize their failure rates.
- A 2004 congressional report found that many federally-funded
abstinence-only programs contained false or misleading information
about reproductive health.
- Sex education programs that provide information about contraception
and disease prevention, and teach abstinence, do not increase sexual
activity or sexual risk behaviors.
- Research shows that comprehensive sex education helps to delay
the onset of intercourse, reduce frequency of intercourse, increase
condom and contraception use and decrease the number of sexual partners
of program participants.
- An investment in the Healthy Teens Act will save money and lives. The
financial and human cost of unintended pregnancy and treatment of sexually
transmitted infections is overwhelming.
Find out more from the Family Planning Advocates of New York State,
the leading organizers on the Healthy Teens Act.
http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/htasenatecommittees
© 2006 Gay Men's Health Crisis
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