by Senator Steve Urquhart (R - UT)
My legislative district in St. George, Utah, is conservative, and I am conservative. Yet, I am running legislation to promote contraceptive education. Why? Well, I'll tell you.
Though we can - and should - wrestle to our heart's content on issues of correct curriculum, three facts remain at the end of the day, independent of political affiliation: humans like sex, some kids are going to have sex, and information can avert tragedy. My task in working with a conservative district in a conservative state is to implement policy that balances those three realities with strong public preferences for local control and an abstinence message to youth.
As the legislative process kicks, pokes or promotes my bills, I realize that it is moving my legislation where it needs to be. Those prompts, as well as the end result, would be different in different states. And that's appropriate. It leads to a representative and responsive government. Here's the story of how sex ed has been kicked, poked and promoted in Utah.
Last year, Rep. Lynn Hemingway, a democrat, ran a sex ed bill. The system told Lynn that he needed Republican involvement in a legislature with Republican supermajorities in the House and in the Senate. On a different bill - involving expedited partner therapy for chlamydia and gonorrhea - the process told me that I needed to pay more attention to the sexual health of Utah's teens.
My immediate involvement in sex ed was to augment local control elements - with districts, instead of the state, determining how instruction would be delivered. Even then, the process told us that we didn't move enough toward local control. Local districts would need to have more control in preparing instructional materials.
The process taught us that talismanic language in existing code cannot be touched. Thus, SHALL NOT language has to be preserved regarding things that can't be taught (e.g., same-sex relationships and kama sutra stuff); the key is to clarify that, even with those restrictions, contraceptive education does not violate state policy and curriculum.
Put it all together, and I believe we will pass a bill that improves existing sex ed instruction (where 36 out of 40 districts claim to include contraceptives discussions) by requiring districts to publicly examine sex ed instruction every 3 years (thus making sure actual instruction is matching policy) and by clarifying that contraceptives can be discussed in Utah classrooms. Importantly, districts also will be required to notify parents that instructional materials on contraceptives have been prepared by the state and the district, if the district desires. Parents, being in charge of the sex educations of their children, can review and discuss those materials with their children. It is simply a tool that parents can utilize.
I believe that Utah will pass legislation that empowers parents and children regarding sexual matters. I believe that every state can get there, by pointing the passion that parents have on the issue of sex ed toward the healthy discussions that can occur in legislative bodies honestly looking for solutions to society's complex problems.