Maryland education code requires each local school board to work with the country health department in establishing a school health education program with a number of specified goals. In the area of sex education, these goals include:

-- helping students to “develop and use skills for making responsible decisions about sexual behavior based on its consequences for the individual and others;”

-- giving the students the information to “develop and use skills for making responsible decisions about family planning and preventing pregnancy;”

-- teaching students about “a variety of family structures and roles of family members,” “male and female roles in American society,” “sexual variations,” contraception, and family planning.

In Maryland, general health education classes must be taught in kindergarten through twelfth grade, in mixed gender groups; direct teaching of subjects related to reproduction “may not begin earlier than age 10 or later than age 12.” An elective sexuality education course is offered in middle and high schools, designed with the input of an appointed citizen advisory committee that “broadly represents the views of the community.” That course must cover a number of topics, including contraception, family planning, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Parents or guardians may remove their children from any or all sexuality education classes; this is referred to an “opt-out” policy. Corollary to that, the sex education courses offered in middle and high schools require parental permission for participation, known as an “opt-in” policy.

Maryland has been fighting a protracted battle for comprehensive sex education in schools – most famously, there has been controversy about whether or not to discuss sexual orientation in classes, but the conflict over the inclusion of contraception information is equally heated.

Comprehensive sex education is crucial to the safety of young men and women, a high percentage of whom will be sexually active by the time they leave high school. By age 19, seven in 10 teens have had sexual intercourse. In addition to encouraging teens to delay sexual intercourse, teens also need to be provided with information and skills to protect themselves and their partners from unintended pregnancy and infection.

Conclusive research has shown that abstinence-only programs are not effective. There is no evidence that these programs have increased rates of sexual abstinence or affected the rates of HIV infection. Declines in teen pregnancy rates have been attributed primarily to improved use of contraception rather than a decrease in sexual activity. There is strong evidence that comprehensive sex education can effectively delay sex among young people even as it increases condom and overall contraception youth among sexually active youth.

Astonishingly, many influential figures, including lawmakers, still position themselves as advocates for critically flawed “abstinence-only” education, even though research shows that the public favors a comprehensive approach strongly over abstinence-only. NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland supports honest, age-appropriate, and medically accurate sex education that promotes abstinence and provides young people with the information they need to protect themselves.