One of the bills that we are especially concerned about is the Healthy Teens Act. This legislation has been around in various forms since 2003. The Assembly version, A1806, sponsored by Assemblyman Gottfried (D – Manhattan), and the Senate version, S3836, sponsored by Senator Duane (D – Manhattan) is unchanged from last year’s version.

The intent of the legislation is to provide an annual grant to develop and implement a comprehensive sex education program in the public school system. One of the problems with the bill however, is that it does not limit instruction to only teenagers, but leaves the door open to instruct much younger children as well.

The bill does not specify how large the annual grant would be, but the bill’s Assembly sponsor has said that "ten million dollars would be a drop in the bucket."

It should be noted that New York taxpayers are already funding many comprehensive sex education programs. In July 2007, New York State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines cancelled all existing federal Title V abstinence-only contracts, opting instead to expand the state’s comprehensive sexual education programs. As of October 2007, New York began redirecting $2.6 million in annual state funds to comprehensive sexual education in schools and other community settings.

The New York State Legislature should reject the Healthy Teens Act again this year, but that won’t happen unless you let your voice be heard.  We have made it easy for you to do so.  Just visit our website’s Legislative Action Center at to find information on how you can contact your elected officials.