Sex Ed Without Condoms? Welcome to Mississippi

[xchrom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/03/sex-ed-without-condoms-welcome-to-mississippi/273802/



***SNIP

Sex education is divided into two basic camps. The first is evidence-based, providing information about contraception and basic sexual health. On the other side, there is the abstinence-only-until-marriage form of sex education, which offers little information on contraception (except to cite often incorrect failure rates).

House Bill 999 mandates teaching abstinence-based sex education in all Mississippi public schools. A school district may decide to teach an "abstinence plus" curriculum -- encouraging abstinence while providing information about contraception -- but even in those cases, the bill bans demonstration of proper condom use.

Under HB 999, each school district is allowed to choose a curriculum from a pre-approved list selected by the State Board of Education. The law does not, however, require the Board of Education to consult with the Department of Health as it approves curricula. So non-health professionals have worked in a vacuum, approving abstinence-only programs like Choosing the Best and WAIT Training. Neither program has been deemed effective by the US Department of Health and Human Services. And both have come under fire over the years for teaching erroneous information about the transfer of HIV and relying on virginity pledges and in-school mock wedding ceremonies.

HB 999 also allows a school to teach that homosexuality is prohibited by a section of the state legal code titled Unnatural Intercourse, which lists "crime against nature, with mankind or beast" as a Class I felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. (Because of the Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas, Mississippi probably wouldn't be able to enforce this provision, but it remains on the books.)

[LibertyLover]

1. Mock wedding ceremonies?

That is a sure winner in the "how can I get pregnant/get someone pregnant" sweepstakes as far as I'm concerned. Good grief - can nobody in Mississippi see where that would head?