Sexuality
Education
People of Faith for REAL - The Responsible Education About Life Act
 The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) supports the Responsible
Education About Life Act (REAL), (H.R. 1653, S. 972), federal legislation
to provide $204 million to states for programs that provide honest, medically
accurate, complete, age-appropriate sex education; programs that the public
almost universally supports and that studies show can be effective in helping
teens stay healthy. As people of faith, we believe it is a moral imperative
to provide children and teens with all the information they need to make responsible
and informed decisions about their health.
Learn more about denominational views on sexuality
education.
RCRC testimony for House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform, 4/23/08
How You Can Take Action
Why the REAL Act is Needed
• Each year, there are 750,000 teen pregnancies, 82% of which are unintended.
• The sons of teen mothers are 13% more likely to end up in prison.
• Teen daughters are 22% more likely to become teen mothers themselves.
• 31% of young women become pregnant at least once before the age of
20.
• Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school.
• Each year, 9 million teens and young adults acquire an STD.
What REAL Would Do
Provide states with much needed funding for programs that would:
• be required to be age-appropriate and medically accurate;
• teach that abstinence is the only sure way to avoid pregnancy and
sexually transmitted diseases and stress the value of abstinence while they
also teach about the benefits of contraception and protection;
• encourage family communication about sexuality;
• refrain from teaching or promoting religion;
• teach negotiation skills for young people;
• teach young people about the effects of alcohol and drug use on responsible
behavior.
Other Supporters for REAL
America’s leading medical and public health experts support responsible
sex education including: The American Medical Association, the American Nurses
Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians
and Gynecologists, the American Public Health Association, and the Society
of Adolescent Medicine, support responsible sexuality education that includes
information about both abstinence and contraception as well as leading education
experts such as the National Education Association, The American Federation
of Teachers, The National School Boards Association, and the American Association
of School Administrators.
Polls consistently show support for balanced, responsible sex education above
80% in nearly every demographic. Some polls even show support for sex education
that includes information about contraception and abstinence to be above 90%.
AS PEOPLE OF FAITH:
• We seek a society that values human life and human dignity and honors
individual conscience.
• We believe the ability to make moral decisions—including about
reproductive issues—is the very basis of an individual's dignity.
• We seek to correct the conditions that underlie the high rate of
unintended pregnancy and abortion, through comprehensive sex education, affordable
family planning services, and high-quality, accessible medical care.
• We strive to make reproductive justice a reality by furthering the
medical, economic, and educational resources necessary for healthy children,
families and communities.
• We believe that government must never mandate the tenets of one religious
viewpoint.
For more information contact Public Policy, at the Religious Coalition for
Reproductive Choice, 202-628-7700
or via e-mail.
Revised 3/28/08
Religious Support for Sexuality Education
In recent years, hundreds of millions of federal dollars have been poured
into unproven abstinence-only education for teens. While most sex education
programs teach the value of abstinence, abstinence-only education does not
provide basic information on reproductive health such as method of preventing
sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy. Advocates of abstinence-only education
oppose reproductive choice and women’s equality and seek to make narrow
religious beliefs the law of the land. Make no mistake—they don’t
represent most people of faith, who overwhelmingly support providing accurate
information about sexuality.
Major faith traditions representing millions of Americans support comprehensive
sexuality education. In keeping with our nation's constitutional guarantee
of freedom of religion, they oppose civil laws that would impose specific
religious views about sex education on all Americans.
American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A.
"We are committed to providing programs of education and support to guide
and nurture persons making choices about singleness, marriage, divorce, remarriage
and parenthood."
"We are committed to working with others for public policies and practices
which enhance the status of families and empower them to do their unique work
of nurturing succeeding generations of citizens."
From the:
American Baptist Policy Statement on Family Life No. 7036:6, June 1984
Central Conference of American Rabbis
" . . . Experience with the Reform Movement's youth programs indicates
that Reform Jewish youth are as sexually active as their peers. In addition,
every scientific study that breaks down participants by religion shows the
same results.
"Therefore, the Central Conference of American Rabbis resolves to:
Support federal, state, provincial, and local legislation to provide for the
inclusion of comprehensive and age-appropriate sexuality education in the
public schools on all levels (from grade school through high school), while
opposing federal, state, provincial, and local funding exclusively for abstinence-only
programs."
From:
Sexuality Education, Adopted by the 114th Annual Convention of the Central Conference Of American Rabbis (organized rabbinate of Reform Judaism) March 2003
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
"THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the General Assembly of the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ) meeting in Ft. Worth, Texas, July 21-25, 2007,
encourage all manifestations of the church to participate in proactive prevention
by:
Engaging in age appropriate health and sexuality education paired with Christian
spirituality for adults and youth."
From:
General Assembly Resolution NO. 0725 (SENSE-OF-THE-ASSEMBLY) PROACTIVE PREVENTION: SEEKING COMMON GROUND ON THE ISSUE OF ABORTION
Church of the Brethren
"Education for family life is appropriate also within the public school.
It is needed to supplement instruction in the home and church. Public
school instruction should include information about the body, sex organs,
and the reproductive system, but the emphasis should be on values and relationships.
Teachers who are responsible for this task should be well trained and themselves
be worthy models of mature and responsible sexuality. The church supports
responsible family-life education in the public school as long as the religious
commitment of all students and residents of the community is respected.
Family-life education will not solve all sex, marriage, and family problems.
The task requires the coordinated efforts of home, school, and church."
From:
Statement, 1983 Annual Conference Human Sexuality from a Christian Perspective, Family-Life Education 1983
Episcopal Church
"Resolved, That the 73rd General Convention of the Episcopal Church strongly
urge dioceses and congregations to provide a safe, hospitable environment
for frank conversation with youth and young adults about human sexuality,
to share and teach accurate information, and to promote dialogue, within the
context of the Baptismal Covenant;"
From:
General Convention, Journal of the General Convention of…The Episcopal Church, Denver, 2000 (New York: General Convention, 2001), p. 202.
"Resolved, That we encourage the members of this Church to give strong
support to responsible local public and private school programs of education
in human sexuality."
From:
General Convention, Journal of the General Convention of…The Episcopal Church, Detroit, 1988 (New York: General Convention, 1989), p. 687. No. 1988-A089, 1989
Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
People of all ages need information and experience to understand and responsibly live out their sexual identity in the varied relationships of their lives -- as child or parent, sister or brother, spouse, friend, co-worker, neighbor, or stranger. This church affirms the importance of ordering society and educating youth and adults so that all might live in these relationships with mutual respect and responsibility.
Education about sexuality should emphasize monogamy, abstinence, and responsible sexual behavior, as well as practices intended to prevent the transmission of disease during sexual intercourse.
From:
Sexuality: Some Common Convictions Adopted by the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on November 9, 1996.
Islam
"Islam is explicit about many aspects of human sexuality. Also, based
on the numerous hadith showing the Prophet's willingness to discuss these
matters openly, it should be obvious that education about matters related
to sex is acceptable."
"Explaining anatomy and the changes one's body experiences during puberty
are essential for enabling young people to grow up with a healthy self-image.
Also, in an age where sexual activity in many countries begins at an early
age, Muslim adolescents must be informed to better enable them to deal with
peer pressure. Sex education can be taught in a way that informs young people
about sexuality in scientific and moral terms."
"Regardless of the challenges of each society, young people must be
adequately informed. Also, in some Muslim communities, individuals are encouraged
to marry at young ages. They need to be educated regarding sexuality prior
to the marriage such that they know what to expect and can consider their
options for birth control prior to consummating the marriage."
From:
An Islamic Perspective on Sexuality by Muslim Women's League September 1999
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
The JCPA believes that public schools have an obligation to provide young people with accurate and effective sexuality education and, therefore, that current, ineffective abstinence-only-until marriage
sexuality programs in public schools should be replaced by comprehensive, medically accurate, age-appropriate sexuality education that does not promote any particular religious viewpoint on sexuality.
From:
Task Force Concern on Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Public School
Adopted by the 2008 JCPA Plenum
Mennonite Church USA
"We call on pastors and congregational leaders to address issues of sexuality
and appropriate sexual expression in sermons, in Sunday school classes, and
in premarital counseling."
"We commit ourselves to provide Christian education about human sexuality
for both young and old and to foster understanding of various means by which
pregnancy can be prevented when it is not desired."
From:
Statement on Abortion Adopted by Mennonite Church USA Delegate Assembly Atlanta, Georgia
July 2003
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The 206th General Assembly (1994):
1. Supports the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Surgeon General in planning and implementing comprehensive school health education that includes age and developmentally appropriate sexuality education in all grades as a part of human growth and development curriculum for youth.
2. Calls upon state legislatures to require that all schools provide comprehensive kindergarten through twelfth grade human growth and development education that is complete, factual, accurate, free of bias, and does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, sexual orientation, or physical, mental, emotional, or learning disability.
From:
1994 Statement-PCUSA, 569-570 “The Challenge of Choice: 30 Years of Affirming Reproductive Choice; Presbyterians and Roe v. Wade, 1973 to 2003” November/December 2002
Reformed Church in America
General Synod recommended the following:
To request that regional synods and classes "develop regional and local strategies for sexuality education.”
From:
Summary of General Synod Statements on Abortion (Minutes of the General Synod 1990, p. 101).
Unitarian Universalist Association
"WHEREAS the REAL Act (Responsible Education about Life) will establish
the first ever federal funding stream for medically accurate, comprehensive
sexuality education;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the delegates of the 2007 General Assembly
of the Unitarian Universalist Association call upon Congress to support passage
of the REAL and PATHWAY Acts and urge member congregations and individual
Unitarian Universalists to immediately petition congressional representatives
to co-sponsor these bills;"
From:
Support Comprehensive Sexuality Education Legislation
2007 Action of Immediate Witness
"Be It Further Resolved, that the 1994 General Assembly of the Unitarian
Universalist Association urges member congregations to advocate the availability
of comprehensive, objective, unbiased, up-to-date, age-appropriate, sexuality
education curricula in public schools, including information about:
• The reproductive system and its functions;
• The proper use of all forms of contraception, including the option of abstinence;
• Sexually transmitted diseases, their prevention and treatments;
• Sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, rape (including date rape), and incest, as well as their prevention and treatment through counseling, information, and resources;
• Pregnancy counseling and options including information about organizations
such as Planned Parenthood and Birthright."
From:
Sexuality Education in Public Schools
1994 Resolution of Immediate Witness
United Church of Christ
IV. A STATEMENT OF CHRISTIAN CONVICTION
5. "Sex education beginning early in elementary school, as called for
by the Surgeon General, is a major component of the effort to contain the
AIDS pandemic. Curricula need to address the physical, social and ethical
nature of human sexuality and teach skills for responsible personal decision-making."
6. "Government funding of research, service, education, treatment and
prevention must become a global priority."
From:
A Pronouncement Health and Wholeness in the Midst of a Pandemic, Adopted by the Sixteenth General Synod June 25-30, 1987
The United Methodist Church
"We recognize the continuing need for full, positive, age-appropriate
and factual sex education opportunities for children, young people, and adults.
The Church offers a unique opportunity to give quality guidance and education
in this area."
From:
Human Sexuality The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2004
"Children, youth, and adults need opportunities to discuss sexuality
and learn from quality sex education materials in families, churches and schools."
From:
Pornography and Sexual Violence Adopted 1988; Revised and Adopted 2000 The Book of Resolutions of the United Methodist Church
2004
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that United Synagogue supports comprehensive sex education;
Encourages parents to talk to their children about sexuality and sexual health in a Conservative Jewish context; Calls upon the U.S. Congress to cease funding of abstinence only education; Opposes funding of abstinence only education on federal, state, provincial and local levels; Encourages the support of the inclusion of components of age appropriate comprehensive sex education in public schools; and encourages components of age appropriate comprehensive sex education in Solomon Schechter schools, Camps Ramah, Kadima, USY and Koach.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that United Synagogue will develop age-appropriate educational materials to be used in day schools, synagogue schools, youth groups and homes.
From:
Comprehensive Sex Education (2007)
Resolution passed at the international biennial convention 2007
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
"The Committee assists participating denominations and organizations
in:
• The life-long nurturing task of families
• Strengthening marriage, parenting and familial living through programs of education and leader development
• Addressing human sexuality throughout the life cycle
• Supporting families in a time of many cultural changes
• Providing remedial strategies for problems affecting families, preventative
strategies for enhancing the health of families, and advocacy regarding public
policies that impact families."
From:
Committee on Family Ministries and Human Sexuality, Education and Leadership Ministries Committee Mission
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