How Vermont is providing sex education as the country debates abortion access
Synopsis
For many Vermonters, reproductive freedom doesn’t just mean the right to an abortion — it means expanding access to sex education and more. Sex educators in Vermont say that without federal protections for abortion, sex education and birth control are more crucial than ever. The state requires all middle and high schools to provide free condoms and teach students about birth control, pregnancy, and abortion in health classes. It’s a policy many other states hope to follow.
One high school activist tells Vermont Public’s Anna Van Dine, “You can do a lot of preventative measures by teaching sexual health effectively, teaching contraception effectively, teaching that abstinence is not the only option, and, in general, making people young people feel safe talking about sex and learning about sex.”
Dorey Myers placed a cardboard box, pink and decorated with flowers, on her desk in the nurse’s office at Milton High school. She lifted the lid and rifled through the contents.
“So you got dental dams, you got some condoms. And they’re usually in a basket in there,” she said, gesturing at the front room.
A basket full of condoms in the nurse’s office, free for the taking, is not something you’d find at every public high school in the U.S. But it is something you’d find at every public high school in Vermont.
You have people on the spectrum of like, they are willing to talk about sex, are willing to talk about consent, are willing to kind of just really have this open conversation…And then you still have kids that are like, (gasp!) sex. Like, ‘I haven’t even talked about that before.’
Louisiana miscarriage patient who had to cross state lines for critical care wants answers
Texas’ restrictive abortion law sends Houston teen on cross-country odyssey for help
