Real Education for Healthy Youth Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2720 To provide for the overall health and well-being of young people, including the promotion of lifelong sexual health and healthy relationships, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 14, 2019 Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. OMAR, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. MOORE, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. TONKO, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. ROYBAL- ALLARD, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. RYAN, Mr. AGUILAR, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. EVANS, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, and Mr. POCAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for the overall health and well-being of young people, including the promotion of lifelong sexual health and healthy relationships, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2720.IH H2720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2720 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Real Education for 2 Healthy Youth Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. PURPOSES; FINDING; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 4 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to pro- 5 vide young people with comprehensive sex education pro- 6 grams that— 7 (1) promote and uphold the rights of young 8 people to information in order to make healthy deci- 9 sions about their sexual health; 10 (2) provide the information and skills all young 11 people need to make informed, responsible, and 12 healthy decisions in order to become sexually healthy 13 adults and have healthy relationships; 14 (3) provide information about the prevention of 15 unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted infec- 16 tions, including HIV, dating violence, sexual assault, 17 bullying, and harassment; and 18 (4) provide resources and information on topics 19 ranging from gender stereotyping and gender roles 20 and stigma and socio-cultural influences surrounding 21 sex and sexuality. 22 (b) FINDING ON REQUIRED RESOURCES.—In order 23 to provide the comprehensive sex education described in 24 subsection (a), Congress finds that increased resources are 25 required for sex education programs that— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2720.IH H2720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2720 IH (1) substantially incorporate elements of evi- 1 dence-based programs or characteristics of effective 2 programs; 3 (2) cover a broad range of topics, including 4 medically accurate and complete information that is 5 age and developmentally appropriate about all the 6 aspects of sex, sexual health, and sexuality; 7 (3) are gender and gender identity-sensitive, 8 emphasizing the importance of equality and the so- 9 cial environment for achieving sexual and reproduc- 10 tive health and overall well-being; 11 (4) promote educational achievement, critical 12 thinking, decision making, self-esteem, and self-effi- 13 cacy; 14 (5) help develop healthy attitudes and insights 15 necessary for understanding relationships between 16 oneself and others and society; 17 (6) foster leadership skills and community en- 18 gagement by— 19 (A) promoting principles of fairness, 20 human dignity, and respect; and 21 (B) engaging young people as partners in 22 their communities; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2720.IH H2720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2720 IH (7) are culturally and linguistically appropriate, 1 reflecting the diverse circumstances and realities of 2 young people. 3 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 4 gress that— 5 (1) federally funded sex education programs 6 should aim to— 7 (A) provide information about a range of 8 human sexuality topics, including— 9 (i) human development, healthy rela- 10 tionships, personal skills; 11 (ii) sexual behavior including absti- 12 nence; 13 (iii) sexual health including preventing 14 unintended pregnancy; 15 (iv) sexually transmitted infections in- 16 cluding HIV; and 17 (v) society and culture; 18 (B) promote safe and healthy relation- 19 ships; 20 (C) promote gender equity; 21 (D) use, and be informed by, the best sci- 22 entific information available; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2720.IH H2720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2720 IH (E) be culturally appropriate and inclusive 1 of youth with varying gender identities, gender 2 expressions, and sexual orientations; 3 (F) be built on characteristics of effective 4 programs; 5 (G) expand the existing body of research 6 on comprehensive sex education programs 7 through program evaluation; 8 (H) expand training programs for teachers 9 of comprehensive sex education; 10 (I) build on programs funded under section 11 513 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 713) 12 and the Office of Adolescent Health’s Teen 13 Pregnancy Prevention Program, funded under 14 title II of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 15 2010 (Public Law 111–117; 123 Stat. 3253), 16 and on programs supported through the Cen- 17 ters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); 18 and 19 (J) promote and uphold the rights of 20 young people to information in order to make 21 healthy and autonomous decisions about their 22 sexual health; and 23 (2) no Federal funds should be used for health 24 education programs that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2720.IH H2720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2720 IH (A) withhold health-promoting or life-sav- 1 ing information about sexuality-related topics, 2 including HIV; 3 (B) are medically inaccurate or have been 4 scientifically shown to be ineffective; 5 (C) promote gender or racial stereotypes; 6 (D) are insensitive and unresponsive to the 7 needs of sexually active young people; 8 (E) are insensitive and unresponsive to the 9 needs of survivors of sexual violence; 10 (F) are insensitive and unresponsive to the 11 needs of youth of all physical, developmental, 12 and mental abilities; 13 (G) are insensitive and unresponsive to the 14 needs of youth with varying gender identities, 15 gender expressions, and sexual orientations; or 16 (H) are inconsistent with the ethical im- 17 peratives of medicine and public health. 18 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDUCATION 19 FOR ADOLESCENTS. 20 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary, in co- 21 ordination with the Associate Commissioner of the Family 22 and Youth Services Bureau of the Administration on Chil- 23 dren, Youth, and Families of the Department of Health 24 and Human Services, the Director of the Office of Adoles- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2720.IH H2720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2720 IH cent Health, the Director of the Division of Adolescent 1 and School Health within the Centers for Disease Control 2 and Prevention and the Secretary of Education, shall 3 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities 4 to enable such eligible entities to carry out programs that 5 provide adolescents with comprehensive sex education, as 6 described in subsection (f). 7 (b) DURATION.—Grants awarded under this section 8 shall be for a period of 5 years. 9 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this section, the term ‘‘el- 10 igible entity’’ means a public or private entity that focuses 11 on adolescent health and education or has experience 12 working with adolescents. 13 (d) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity desiring a 14 grant under this section shall submit an application to the 15 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 16 such information as the Secretary may require, including 17 an assurance to participate in the evaluation described in 18 section 6. 19 (e) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec- 20 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 21 that— 22 (1) are State or local public entities; 23 (2) are entities not currently receiving funds 24 under— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2720.IH H2720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 2720 IH (A) section 513 of the Social Security Act 1 (42 U.S.C. 713); 2 (B) the Office of Adolescent Health’s Teen 3 Pregnancy Prevention Program, funded under 4 title II of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 5 2010 (Public Law 111–117; 123 Stat. 3253), 6 or any substantially similar successive program; 7 or 8 (C) the Centers for Disease Control and 9 Prevention’s Division of Adolescent and School 10 Health; and 11 (3) address health inequities among young peo- 12 ple that face systemic barriers resulting in dis- 13 proportionate rates of not less than one of the fol- 14 lowing: 15 (A) Unintended pregnancies. 16 (B) Sexually transmitted infections, includ- 17 ing HIV. 18 (C) Dating violence and sexual violence. 19 (f) USE OF FUNDS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity that re- 21 ceives a grant under this section shall use the grant 22 funds to carry out an education program that pro- 23 vides adolescents with comprehensive sex education 24 that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2720.IH H2720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 2720 IH (A) is age and developmentally appro- 1 priate; 2 (B) is medically accurate and complete; 3 (C) substantially incorporates elements of 4 evidence-based sex education instruction; or 5 (D) creates a demonstration project based 6 on characteristics of effective programs. 7 (2) CONTENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDU- 8 CATION PROGRAMS.—The comprehensive sex edu- 9 cation programs funded under this section shall in- 10 clude instruction and materials that address— 11 (A) the physical, social, and emotional 12 changes of human development, including 13 human anatomy, reproduction, and sexual de- 14 velopment; 15 (B) healthy relationships, including friend- 16 ships, within families, and society, that are 17 based on mutual respect, and the ability to dis- 18 tinguish between healthy and unhealthy rela- 19 tionships, including— 20 (i) effective communication, negotia- 21 tion, and refusal skills, including the skills 22 to recognize and report inappropriate or 23 abusive sexual advances; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2720.IH H2720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 2720 IH (ii) bodily autonomy, setting and re- 1 specting personal boundaries, practicing 2 personal safety, and consent; and 3 (iii) the limitations and harm of gen- 4 der-role stereotypes, violence, coercion, bul- 5 lying, harassment, and intimidation in re- 6 lationships; 7 (C) healthy decision making skills about 8 sexuality and relationships that include— 9 (i) critical thinking, problem solving, 10 self-efficacy, stress-management, self-care, 11 and decision making; 12 (ii) individual values and attitudes; 13 (iii) the promotion of positive body 14 images; 15 (iv) developing an understanding that 16 there are a range of body types and en- 17 couraging positive feeling about students’ 18 own body types; 19 (v) information on how to respect oth- 20 ers and ensure safety on the internet and 21 when using other forms of digital commu- 22 nication; 23 (vi) information on local services and 24 resources where students can obtain addi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2720.IH H2720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 2720 IH tional information related to bullying, har- 1 assment, dating violence and sexual as- 2 sault, suicide prevention, and other related 3 care; 4 (vii) encouragement for youth to com- 5 municate with their parents or guardians, 6 health and social service professionals, and 7 other trusted adults about sexuality and 8 intimate relationships; 9 (viii) information on how to create a 10 safe environment for all students and oth- 11 ers in society; 12 (ix) examples of varying types of rela- 13 tionships, couples, and family structures; 14 and 15 (x) affirmative representation of vary- 16 ing gender identities, gender expressions, 17 and sexual orientations, including individ- 18 uals and relationships between same sex 19 couples and their families; 20 (D) abstinence, delaying age of first sexual 21 activity, the use of condoms, preventive medica- 22 tion, vaccination, birth control, and other sexu- 23 ally transmitted infection prevention measures, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2720.IH H2720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 2720 IH and the options for pregnancy, including par- 1 enting, adoption, and abortion, including— 2 (i) the importance of effectively using 3 condoms, preventive medication, and appli- 4 cable vaccinations to protect against sexu- 5 ally transmitted infections, including HIV; 6 (ii) the benefits of effective contracep- 7 tive and condom use in avoiding unin- 8 tended pregnancy; 9 (iii) the relationship between sub- 10 stance use and sexual health and behav- 11 iors; and 12 (iv) information about local health 13 services where students can obtain addi- 14 tional information and services related to 15 sexual and reproductive health and other 16 related care; 17 (E) through affirmative recognition, the 18 roles that traditions, values, religion, norms, 19 gender roles, acculturation, family structure, 20 health beliefs, and political power play in how 21 students make decisions that affect their sexual 22 health, using examples of various types of races, 23 ethnicities, cultures, and families, including sin- 24 gle-parent households and young families; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:34 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2720.IH H2720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 2720 IH (F) information about gender identity, 1 gender expression, and sexual orientation for all 2 students, including— 3 (i) affirm [Text truncated for display. 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