PUBLIC RIGHTS

Judge: Abstinence-Only Sex Ed Is Illegal

Violates California state law.

A California judge has ruled that state law prohibits schools from teaching abstinence-only sex education. Fresno County Superior Court Judge Donald Black’s ruling applies only to a 40,000-student school district in Clovis, but sets a precedent as the first decision to interpret the state’s 11-year-old sex-ed law. The law requires “age-appropriate” sex-education programs that teach abstinence as the only certain way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, he ruled, but also requires students to receive “medically accurate information” on contraceptives as well. “Access to medically and socially appropriate sexual education is an important public right,” Black said.