Sex Ed in the Post- Roe World: Implications for Public Health Education

Abstract

The overturning of Roe v. Wade and the increasing assaults on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) rights in legislatures across the country have put our sexual and reproductive health in peril. They are likely also bellwethers of more to come. While a full reckoning of the repercussions from these attacks will not be known for a long time, the field of public health must act now with a strong and cohesive plan to mitigate the harms, fight these threats to our well-being, and lead the way forward.

Keywords

health education health policy maternal child health population groups reproductive health sexual health youth

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Boyer

(2018). New name, same harm: Rebranding of federal abstinence-only programs. Guttmacher Institute. https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2018/02/new-name-same-harm-rebranding-federal-abstinence-only-programs

Branigin

(2022, July 22). Miami-Dade rejects sex-ed textbook in test of state’s anti-LGBTQ law. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/22/miami-dade-sex-ed-textbook/

Butler

S. B.

Sorace

Beach

K. H.

(2018). Institutionalizing sex education in diverse U.S. school districts. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62(2), 149–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.08.025

Center for Reproductive Rights. (2021). The Disproportionate Harm of Abortion Bans: Spotlight on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. https://reproductiverights.org/supreme-court-case-mississippi-abortion-ban-disproportionate-harm/

Constantine

N. A.

Jerman

Berglas

N. F.

Constantine

N. A.

Jerman

Berglas

N. F.

Angulo-Olaiz

Chou

C. -P.

Rohrbach

L. A.

(2015). Short-term effects of a rights-based sexuality education curriculum for high-school students: A cluster-randomized trial. BMC Public Health, 15, 293. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-1625-5

Dailard

(2001). Sex education: Politicians, parents, teachers and teens. Guttmacher Institute. https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2001/02/sex-education-politicians-parents-teachers-and-teens

Eisenberg

M. E.

Bernat

D. H.

Bearinger

L. H.

Resnick

M. D.

(2008). Support for comprehensive sexuality education: Perspectives from parents of school-age youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42, 352–359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.09.019

Flanagan

(2019, December 6). Losing the rare in safe legal and rare. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/12/the-brilliance-of-safe-legal-and-rare/603151/c

Fox

A. M.

Himmelstein

Khalid

Howell

E. A.

(2019). Funding for abstinence-only education and adolescent pregnancy prevention: Does state ideology affect outcomes? American Journal of Public Health, 109(3), 497–504. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304896

10.

Future of Sex Education Initiative. (2020). National sex education standards: Core content and skills, K-12 (2nd ed.). American School Health Association.

11.

Goldfarb

Constantine

(2011). Sexuality education. In Bradford Brown

Prinstein

(Eds.), Encyclopedia of adolescence (Vol. 2, pp. 322–331). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-373951-3.00086-7

12.

Goldfarb

Lieberman

(2021). Three decades of research: The case for comprehensive sex education. Journal of Adolescent Health, 68(1), 13–27. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X20304560

13.

Goldfarb

Lieberman

(2022, July 20). Guest essay: After Roe, sex education is even more vital. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/20/opinion/after-roe-sex-ed-is-even-more-vital.html?referringSource=articleShare

14.

Guttmacher Institute. (2021, May). Fact sheet. Federally funded abstinence-only programs: Harmful and ineffective. https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/abstinence-only-programs

15.

Haberland

(2015). The case for addressing gender and power in sexuality and HIV education: A comprehensive review of evaluation studies. International Perspectives on Reproductive Health, 41, 31–42.

16.

Haberland

Rogow

(2015). Sexuality education: Emerging trends in evidence and practice. Journal of Adolescent Health, 56(Suppl. 1), S15–S21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.08.013

17.

Hall

K. S.

Sales

J. D.

Komro

Santelli

(2016). The state of sex education in the US. Journal of Adolescent Health, 58(6), 595–597. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.03.032

18.

Kaiser Family Foundation. (2018, June 1). Abstinence education programs: Definition, funding, and impact on teen sexual behavior. https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/fact-sheet/abstinence-education-programs-definition-funding-and-impact-on-teen-sexual-behavior/

19.

Kansas abortion amendment election results. (2022, August 2). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/02/us/elections/results-kansas-abortion-amendment.html

20.

Kantor

Levitz

(2017). Parents’ views on sex education in schools: How much do Democrats and Republicans agree? PLOS ONE, 12(7), Article e0180250. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0180250

21.

Kirby

(2007). Emerging answers 2007: New research findings on programs to reduce teen pregnancy. Power to Decide (formerly The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy). https://powertodecide.org/what-we-do/information/resource-library/emerging-answers-2007-new-research-findings-programs-reduce

22.

Kohler

P. K.

Manhart

L. E.

Lafferty

W. E.

(2008). Abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education and the initiation of sexual activity and teen pregnancy. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42, 344–351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.08.026

23.

Kramer

A. S.

(2019). Framing the debate: The status of US sex education policy and the dual narratives of abstinence-only versus comprehensive sex education policy. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 14(4), 490–513. https://doi.org/10.1080/15546128.2019.1600447

24.

Kulczycki. (2022). Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: Navigating the new legal and clinical quagmire and mitigating its impacts on Abortion and Reproductive Health Care. Health Education & Behavior.

25.

Lee

L. M.

Zarowsky

(2015). Foundational values for public health. Public Health Review, 36, 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40985-015-0004-1

26.

Makbool

Jan

(2019). Importance of sex education in schools: Literature review. International Journal of Home Science, 5(1), 124–130. https://www.homesciencejournal.com/archives/2019/vol5issue1/PartC/5-1-34-228.pdf

27.

Mark

N. D.

L. L.

(2022). More comprehensive sex education reduced teen births. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(8), Article e2113144119. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2113144119

28.

Mitchell

K. J.

Ybarra

M. L.

Korchmaros

J. D.

Kosciw

J. G.

(2014). Accessing sexual health information online: Use, motivations and consequences for youth with different sexual orientations. Health Education Research, 29(1), 147–157. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyt071

29.

Positive Action. (2022). Social-emotional learning (SEL) standards in all 50 states. https://www.positiveaction.net/blog/sel-standards

30.

Rice

Narasimhan

Pringle

Newton-Levinson

Redd

S. K.

Evans

D. P

. (this issue). “Post-Roe” abortion policy context heightens the imperative for multilevel, comprehensive, integrated health education. Health Education & Behavior.

31.

Roberts

S. C.

Fuentes

L. M.

Berglitz

N. F.

Dennis

A. J.

(2017). A 21st-century public health approach to abortion. American Journal of Public Health, 107(12), 1878–1882. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.304068

32.

Rohrbach

L. A.

Berglas

N. F.

Jerman

Angulo-Olaiz

Chou

C.-P.

Constantine

N. A.

(2015). A rights-based sexuality education curriculum for adolescents: 1-year outcomes from a cluster-randomized trial. Journal of Adolescent Health, 57, 399–406.

33.

Santelli

J. S.

Kantor

L. M.

Grilo

S. A.

Speizer

I. S.

Lindberg

L. D.

Heitel

Schalet

Lyon

M. E.

Mason-Jones

A. J.

McGovern

Heck

Rogers

Ott

M. A.

(2017). Abstinence-only-until-marriage: An updated review of U.S. policies and programs and their impact. Journal of Adolescent Health, 61(3), 273–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.05.031

34.

Santelli

J. S.

Ott

M. A.

Lyon

Rogers

Summers

Schleifer

(2006). Abstinence and abstinence-only education: A review of U.S. policies and programs. Journal of Adolescent Health, 38(1), 72–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2005.10.006

35.

Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. (n.d.). A history of federal funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. https://siecus.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/4-A-Brief-History-of-AOUM-Funding.pdf

36.

Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. (2022a). Sex ed state law and policy chart. https://siecus.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2022-Sex-Ed-State-Law-and-Policy-Chart.pdf

37.

Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. (2022b). The SIECUS state profiles. https://siecus.org/state-profiles/

38.

Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. (2022c). 2022 state of sex education legislative look-ahead. https://siecus.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2022-State-of-Sex-Education-Legislative-Look-Ahead.pdf

39.

Simon

Daneback

(2013). Adolescents’ use of the internet for sex education: A thematic and critical review of the literature. International Journal of Sexual Health, 25(4), 305–319. https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2013.823899

40.

Stanger-Hall

K. F.

Hall

D. W.

(2011). Abstinence-only education and teen pregnancy rates: Why we need comprehensive sex education in the U.S. PLOS ONE, 6(10), Article e24658. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024658

41.

Traub

(2022, July 28). Reversing a reversal, Miami School Board accepts sex ed books it had rejected. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/us/miami-dade-sex-ed-textbooks.html

42.

Trenholm

(2008). Impacts of abstinence education on teen sexual activity, risk of pregnancy, and risk of sexually transmitted diseases. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 27(2), 255–276. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.20324

43.

United Nations Population Fund, World Health Organization, & Federal Centre for Health Education. (n.d.). Sexuality education (Policy Brief, Number 2). https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/379045/Sexuality_education_Policy_brief_No_2.pdf

44.

Vahedi

Sibalis

Sutherland

J. E.

(2018). Are media literacy interventions effective at changing attitudes and intentions towards risky health behaviors in adolescents? A meta-analytic review. Journal of Adolescence, 67(1), 140–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.06.007

45.

Walsh

(2022, June 14). The backlash against sex education. The Nation. https://www.thenation.com/article/society/comprehensive-sex-ed-florida-backlash/

46.

Wiley

D. C.

Plesons

Chandra-Mouli

Ortega

(2020). Managing sex education controversy deep in the heart of Texas: A case study of the North East Independent School District (NEISD). American Journal of Sexuality Education, 15(1), 53–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/15546128.2019.1675562