Condoms for Mississippi--An Update

Mississippi has finally seen the light.

A bill has passed the Mississippi House which would allow the state to allow sex education programs in two Mississippi school districts.

House bill 234, in response to the state's abysmal teen pregnancy statistics, would create a pilot program that for the first time allow sex education to be taught in Mississippi classrooms.

Now all that needs to happen is for a similar bill to work its way through the Senate and ultimately be signed by the governor.

And surely the program need to be expanded beyond just two hand-picked school districts. In a state with more than 100 school districts, too many will students will be left out.

But, you have to start somewhere.

At present, Mississippi does not provide state funds for school-related HIV, STD, or pregnancy prevention activities.¹

Further, Mississippi does not require students to receive instruction in HIV, STD, or pregnancy prevention, although the grade 9-12 portion of the Comprehensive Health Framework (2006) addresses prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases if schools choose to offer sex education. Code §37-13-171 (1998) states, "abstinence education shall be the state standard for any sex-related education taught in the public schools" and "any course containing sex education offered in the public schools shall include instruction in abstinence education.²
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Bristol Palin commanded considerable press when it was discovered that she and her teenage boyfriend, Levi Johnston, were expecting their first child.

She's back in the news again. In an interview with Greta van Susteren of Fox News, Palin, 18, balked at abstinence education, saying it wasn't "realistic."

In doing so, she slammed her mother, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who had been the vice-presidential running mate of John McCain in Election 2008. Gov. Palin was well known for opposing sex education in favor of abstinence education programs.

While there is no indication that Gov. Palin has softened her stance, Bristol seems firmly on the anti-teen pregnancy bandwagon.

"I'd love to [be] an advocate to prevent teen pregnancy because it's not, like, a situation that you would want to strive for, I guess," Bristol Palin said in her Fox interview.

Notes: 1 and 2 from healthyschoolsms.org; photo from google images