Last year, most students in Florida received no reproductive health education.
How is that possible? In 2023, the state legislature passed House Bill 1069 (the same bill that led to book bans and censorship of LGBTQ+ content in schools), which required the Florida Department of Education (DOE) to approve any materials used for sexual and health education.
The result? The following school year, not a single school district received approval for their curriculum.
The curriculum students failed to receive last year includes prevention of teen dating violence and abuse, fostering healthy relationships, and prevention and control of sexually transmitted disease.
Sexual health education is overwhelmingly popular with parents and public health experts, and increasingly important. The National Survey of Family Growth found that teens are 50% less likely to experience pregnancy when taught comprehensive sex education than those taught abstinence-only education. With Florida’s near-total abortion ban in place, young people must have access to all the information available to make safe, informed decisions for themselves and their futures.
This fall, we sent a letter to the DOE requesting an update on their review process. Not only have we and other organizations not received a response, the Orlando Sentinel reported that the state is now informing school districts they cannot discuss topics such as contraception, sexual consent and rape, and LGBTQ+ issues in their curriculum.