AL
Alabama Senate Bill SB277

Alabama 2025 Regular Session

Alabama Senate Bill SB277 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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33 SB277
44 4U5NNR3-1
55 By Senators Shelnutt, Roberts
66 RFD: Education Policy
77 First Read: 01-Apr-25
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1212 5 4U5NNR3-1 03/20/2025 GP (L)lg 2025-1326
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1414 First Read: 01-Apr-25
1515 SYNOPSIS:
1616 Under existing law, any program or curriculum in
1717 a public K-12 school that includes sex education or the
1818 human reproductive process must emphasize abstinence as
1919 the only effective protection against unintended
2020 pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease.
2121 This bill would require any sex education or
2222 human reproductive curriculum or program in a public
2323 K-12 school to exclusively teach sexual risk avoidance
2424 and encourage abstinence from all sexual activity.
2525 This bill would further provide for the sex
2626 education and human reproductive curriculum or program
2727 in public K-12 schools, including the provision of
2828 information about state laws relating to the financial
2929 cost of pregnancy and child care, abortion, and
3030 adoption, and instruction about parenting
3131 responsibilities.
3232 This bill would prohibit any sex education or
3333 human reproductive curriculum or program from: (i)
3434 providing a referral to or information about how to
3535 acquire an abortion; (ii) misrepresenting the efficacy
3636 of or demonstrating the use of contraceptives; and
3737 (iii) using images that are sexually explicit.
3838 This bill would prohibit any local board of
3939 education from using the services of any individual or
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6969 education from using the services of any individual or
7070 organization that does not endorse sexual risk
7171 avoidance or that advocates for or performs abortions.
7272 This bill would require each parent or guardian
7373 to be provided with notice before sex education or
7474 information about the human reproductive process is
7575 provided to students, and would provide each parent or
7676 guardian with the ability to opt his or her child out
7777 of the curriculum or program.
7878 This bill would also allow the Attorney General
7979 to enforce the requirements of this bill.
8080 A BILL
8181 TO BE ENTITLED
8282 AN ACT
8383 Relating to sex education in public K-12 schools; to
8484 amend Section 16-40A-2, Code of Alabama 1975, to require sex
8585 education and human reproductive process curriculum and
8686 programs to teach sexual risk avoidance and encourage
8787 abstinence from all sexual activity; to prohibit the promotion
8888 of abortions or any sexual activity in sex education or human
8989 reproductive process curriculum; to prohibit demonstrations of
9090 contraceptives in sex education or human reproductive process
9191 curriculum; to authorize parents or guardians to opt their
9292 child out of sexual education or human reproductive process
9393 curriculum or programs; and to authorize the Attorney General
9494 to enforce.
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124124 to enforce.
125125 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
126126 Section 1. Section 16-40A-2, Code of Alabama 1975, is
127127 amended to read as follows:
128128 "ยง16-40A-2
129129 (a) Any program or curriculum in the public schools in
130130 Alabama that includes sex education or the human reproductive
131131 process shall teach sexual risk avoidance content and , at a
132132 minimum, include and emphasize each of the following:
133133 (1) Abstinence from sex all sexual activity is the only
134134 completely100 percent effective protection against way to
135135 prevent unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases
136136 and infections, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) when
137137 transmitted sexually.
138138 (2) Abstinence from sex all sexual activity outside of
139139 marriage is the expected social standard best health practice
140140 for unmarried school-age persons individuals.
141141 (3) The advantages of avoiding nonmarital sexual
142142 activity and the potential physical and emotional negative
143143 outcomes associated with youth and teen sexual activity.
144144 (b) For the purposes of this section, "sexual risk
145145 avoidance" refers to a primary prevention approach to sex
146146 education that seeks to achieve the most favorable health
147147 outcomes for all Alabama youth by providing information and
148148 skills needed to achieve the benefits of avoiding sexual
149149 activity.
150150 (c) Course materials and instruction that relate to
151151 sexual health education or sexually transmitted diseases and
152152 infections shall be age-appropriate and medically accurate.
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182182 infections shall be age-appropriate and medically accurate.
183183 For purposes of this section, the term "age-appropriate" means
184184 topics, messages, and teaching methods suitable to particular
185185 ages or age groups of children and adolescents, based on
186186 developing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral capacity
187187 typical for the age or age group.
188188 (c)(d) Course materials and instruction that relate to
189189 sexual health education or sexually transmitted diseases and
190190 infections, if available, shall include all of the following
191191 elements:
192192 (1) An emphasis on sexual abstinence as the only
193193 completely reliable method of avoiding unintended teenage
194194 pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and infections.
195195 (2) The emphasis shall be on the importance of delaying
196196 sexual activity by and discouraging risky sexual behavior ,
197197 providing skills to avoid sexual risk, and developing
198198 awareness among students of how sexual activity can impact the
199199 whole person, including physical, social, emotional,
200200 psychological, economic, and educational life outcomes .
201201 (3) Statistics and data based on the latest accurate
202202 medical information that indicate the degree of reliability
203203 and unreliability real life usage regarding the efficacy and
204204 limitations of various forms of contraception among the youth
205205 population, while also emphasizing the increase in protection
206206 against pregnancy and protection against sexually transmitted
207207 infections, including HIV infection, which is afforded by the
208208 use of various contraceptive measures ; provided, that the
209209 content: (i) is aligned with the exclusive message of sexual
210210 risk avoidance; (ii) does not encourage or promote sexual
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240240 risk avoidance; (ii) does not encourage or promote sexual
241241 behavior among youth and teens; and (iii) is presented in the
242242 context that while contraception may reduce the risk of
243243 pregnancy and contracting sexually transmitted infections,
244244 including HIV, it does not eliminate the risk .
245245 (4) Information Accurate and current information
246246 concerning the laws relating to all of the following:
247247 a. Thethe financial responsibilities impact associated
248248 with pregnancy, childbirth, and child rearing.
249249 b. Abortion, including medically accurate information
250250 regarding the procedure and risks associated with the
251251 procedure, and abortion law in Alabama.
252252 c. The process of domestic infant adoption, including
253253 the availability of relevant resources.
254254 d. The process for surrendering a newborn infant
255255 pursuant to Chapter 25 of Title 26.
256256 (5) Information concerning the laws prohibiting sexual
257257 abuse, the need to report such abuse to a parent, guardian, or
258258 law enforcement, and the legal options available to victims of
259259 sexual abuse.
260260 (6) Information on how to identify and avoid unhealthy
261261 relationships, including factors predictive of physical,
262262 emotional, or sexual abuse and exploitation, coercion, or
263263 assault, and how to cope with and rebuff unwanted physical and
264264 verbal sexual exploitation by other persons individuals.
265265 (7) Psychologically sound methods of resisting
266266 Knowledge and skills to resist unwanted peer pressure and
267267 avoid cyberbullying, sexting, pornography, and online sexual
268268 predators, and the potential legal implications of
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298298 predators, and the potential legal implications of
299299 participating in any of the preceding activities .
300300 (8) Comprehensive instruction in all of the following:
301301 a. Parentingparenting skills and responsibilities,
302302 including the benefits of a child being raised by both
303303 parents, responsibility to pay child support by a
304304 non-custodial parent or parents, the penalties for non-payment
305305 of child support, and the legal and ethical responsibilities
306306 of child care and child rearing.
307307 b. The impact of youth and teenage pregnancy on the
308308 parent, child, and society.
309309 c. The benefits of raising children within the context
310310 of marriage.
311311 d. The options for individuals experiencing unintended
312312 pregnancy, the benefits of adoption for both the pregnant
313313 youth or teenager and the child, and the associated challenges
314314 of parenting, abortion, and adoption decisions.
315315 e. Medically sound information relating to fetal growth
316316 and development, maternal health, and infant health.
317317 f. The educational and financial impact of youth and
318318 teenage pregnancies.
319319 (d)(e) Parents or guardians shall be given advanced,
320320 written notification of the teaching of any sex education or
321321 of the human reproductive process at least 14 days before the
322322 content is taught to students . Upon the request of a parent or
323323 guardian and prior to distribution to students, the school
324324 shall make available to parents or guardians the sex education
325325 curriculum in its entirety and provide each parent or guardian
326326 with the opportunity to opt his or her child out from the
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356356 with the opportunity to opt his or her child out from the
357357 instruction, with no penalty to the student.
358358 (f) Sex education and human reproductive curriculum,
359359 advice, or content offered by a public K-12 school may not
360360 include any of the following:
361361 (1) Information that misrepresents the efficacy of
362362 contraception use or demonstrates the use of contraceptive
363363 materials.
364364 (2) Information on how to obtain, or that provides a
365365 referral to, abortion services.
366366 (3) Images, materials, or video footage that are
367367 sexually explicit.
368368 (g) Local boards of education may not use the services
369369 of any individual or organization to assist in teaching about
370370 sex education or the human reproductive process if that
371371 individual or organization does not endorse sexual risk
372372 avoidance as the primary means of sex education, or if the
373373 individual or organization performs abortions, provides
374374 referrals to abortion services, or provides funding, advocacy,
375375 or other support for abortions.
376376 (h) The Attorney General shall have the authority to
377377 enforce the provisions of this section by obtaining injunctive
378378 relief to require compliance with this section ."
379379 Section 2. This act shall become effective on October
380380 1, 2025.
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