In post-Roe America, some teenagers are stepping up to get and give sex education when their schools are hamstrung

Chart compares states by their required emphasis on abstinence in sex education and the availability of abortion, with squares sized for each state's population of women of reproductive age. (New York Times chart)

A growing number of teenagers nationwide "are stepping up to demand more comprehensive lessons on reproduction, contraception and abortion — and . . . if the adults refuse, are teaching each other instead," Hannah Natanson reports for The Washington Post.

Pregnancy prevention has become more important since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but only 29 states require schools to teach sex education; 30 states require schools to emphasize abstinence as a method of contraception; and 16 states only teach abstinence. But abstinence doesn't work on a broad scale, and many states that have restricted or outlawed abortion are the same ones that emphasize abstinence. That's a problem when about 79% of girls and and 77% of boys have had sex by age 20, and 75% of teen pregnancies are unplanned.

Sex education in the classroom is often "too little, too late," says Rutgers University public-health professor Laura Lindberg, an expert on it. Her research indicates that fewer than half of U.S. teens are told where to get birth control before they have sex for the first time, "and she noted that the teen birthrate in the United States — 16.7 births per 1,000 females in 2019 — is consistently among the highest in the developed world, though it has been declining in recent years," Natanson reports.

Social conservatives have been trying to restrict or remove sex ed for decades, Natanson reports. "And they’re especially fired up now, post-Roe and amid raging education culture wars that have delivered new laws restricting what teachers can say about race, racism, sexuality, gender identity and LGBTQ issues." Tiffany Justice, co-founder of parent group Moms for Liberty, told Natanson that teenagers advocating for better sex ed "are being pushed by activist organizations, whose purpose is making children politically literate rather than actually literate so they can become social justice warriors."

But most teens are "starved for information" and "intensely curious," according to a Utah teen who educates others. Some teens create their own programs, while others work through existing initiatives such as the Planned Parenthood Teen Council program. "The initiative, begun in 1989 in Washington state, trains teens to teach other schoolchildren sex education, then partners with willing private schools, school districts or community groups to host peer-led lessons on topics ranging from consent to contraception, depending on state law and school policy. Since its founding, it has expanded to 15 states, and last year 300 teens volunteered on 31 councils," Natanson reports. "The end of Roe appears to have driven more interest in the Teen Council program, which is poised to expand." One community health educator in Utah's Planned Parenthood chapter said they have had unprecedented interest from rural parts of the state.