Teen Pregnancy Policy: An Analysis of the Healthy Teens Act

Abstract

The purpose of my research paper is to analyze the proposed bill called the Healthy Teens Act. This bill would provide grant funding for comprehensive sexual education programs in New York State. The Healthy Teens Act would also establish standards for all programs receiving funding including medical accuracy, providing culturally appropriate and unbiased information, family communication, and healthy decision-making skills. The Healthy Teens Act would award grants to programs that exemplify these standards and would set high-need communities as a priority. Currently, there is no legal mandate for schools to teach sexual education in public schools in New York State, with the exception of HIV/AIDS education. The only incentive given to schools is federal funding for abstinence-only sexual education programs. In my paper, I compare the two different types of programs and their approaches to providing sexual education. I ultimately hope to show how a comprehensive sexual education program would ultimately be more effective in reducing teen pregnancy rates.