S 13 ISCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

113th CONGRESSCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

1st SessionCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

S. 13CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to award grants on a competitive basis to public and private entities to provide qualified sexual risk avoidance education to youth and their parents.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

February 26, 2013CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself, Mr. THUNE, and Mr. COATS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and PensionsCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

A BILLCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to award grants on a competitive basis to public and private entities to provide qualified sexual risk avoidance education to youth and their parents.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘Abstinence Education Reallocation Act of 2013’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 2. SEXUAL RISK AVOIDANCE EDUCATION.

(a) Grants- The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, may award grants on a competitive basis to public and private entities to provide qualified sexual risk avoidance education to youth and their parents.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Qualified Sexual Risk Avoidance Education- To qualify for funding under subsection (a), sexual risk avoidance education shall meet each of the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) The education shall be age appropriate.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) The education shall be medically accurate.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) The education shall be an evidence-based approach.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) The context for all sexual health education shall be teaching the skills and benefits of sexual abstinence as the optimal sexual health behavior for youth.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) The education shall include, consistent with paragraphs (1) through (4), teaching of each of the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) The holistic health, economic, and societal benefits that can be gained by refraining from nonmarital sexual activity, through teaching practical skills that promote self-regulation, goal setting, and a focus on the future.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) The clear advantage of reserving human sexual activity for marriage, as a key contributing factor in the prevention of poverty and the preservation of physical and emotional health, based on social science research.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) The foundational components of a healthy relationship and related research regarding the individual, economic, and societal advantages of bearing children within the context of a committed marital relationship in order to form healthy marriages and safe and stable families.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(D) The skills needed to resist the negative influences of the pervasive sex-saturated culture that presents teenage sexual activity as an expected norm, with few risks or negative consequences.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(E) The understanding of how drugs, alcohol, and the irresponsible use of social media can influence sexual decisionmaking and can contribute to risky and often aggressive sexual behavior.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(F) A focused priority on the superior health benefits of sexual abstinence, ensuring that any information provided on contraception does not exaggerate its effectiveness in preventing sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(c) Priority- In awarding grants under subsection (a), the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall give priority to applicants proposing programs to provide qualified sexual risk avoidance education that--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) will serve youth spanning ages 12 to 19; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) will promote protective benefits of parent-child communication regarding healthy sexual decisionmaking.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(d) Definitions- In this Act:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) The term ‘age appropriate’ means appropriate for the general developmental and social maturity of the age group (as opposed to the cognitive ability to understand a topic or the atypical development of a small segment of the targeted population).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) The term ‘evidence-based approach’ means an approach that--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) has a clear theoretical base that integrates research findings with practical implementation expertise that is relevant to the field;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) matches the needs and desired outcomes for the intended audience; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) if implemented well, will demonstrate improved outcomes for the targeted population.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) The term ‘medically accurate’ means referenced to peer-reviewed research by medical, educational, scientific, governmental, or public health publications, organizations, or agencies.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) The term ‘sexual abstinence’ means voluntarily refraining from sexual activity.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) The term ‘sexual activity’ means genital contact or sexual stimulation including, but not limited to, sexual intercourse.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(e) Authorization of Appropriations-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) IN GENERAL- There is authorized to be appropriated $110,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2013 through 2017 to carry out this Act. Amounts authorized to be appropriated by the preceding sentence shall be derived exclusively from amounts in the Prevention and Public Health Fund established by section 4002 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 300u-11).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS- Of the amount authorized to be appropriated by paragraph (1) for a fiscal year--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) not more than $1,000,000 are authorized to be used for Federal administrative costs; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) of the amount used by the Secretary of Health and Human Services for administrative costs, at least 40 percent shall be used for training and technical assistance by qualified organizations--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(i) whose sole focus is the development and advancement of abstinence education;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(ii) that have expertise in theory-based abstinence education curriculum development and implementation;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(iii) that have direct experience in developing sexual risk avoidance evaluation instruments; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(iv) that can offer technical assistance and training on a wide range of topics relevant to the sexual risk avoidance (or abstinence education) field.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink