II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2185 

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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2012 

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself and Mr. THUNE) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Abstinence Education 

5 Reallocation Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SEXUAL RISK AVOIDANCE EDUCATION. 

2 (a) GRANTS.—The Secretary of Health and Human 

3 Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health 

4 Resources and Services Administration, may award grants 

5 on a competitive basis to public and private entities to pro6 vide qualified sexual risk avoidance education to youth and 

7 their parents. 

8 (b) QUALIFIED SEXUAL RISK AVOIDANCE EDU9 CATION.—To qualify for funding under subsection (a), 

10 sexual risk avoidance education shall meet each of the fol11 lowing criterion: 

12 (1) The education shall be age appropriate. 

13 (2) The education shall be medically accurate. 

14 (3) The education shall be carried out through 

15 an evidence-based approach. 

16 (4) The education shall have as its sole purpose 

17 teaching of the skills and benefits of sexual absti18 nence as the optimal sexual health behavior for 

19 youth. 

20 (5) The education shall include, consistent with 

21 paragraphs (1) through (4), teaching of each of the 

22 following: 

23 (A) The holistic health, economic, and soci24 etal benefits that can be gained by refraining 

25 from nonmarital sexual activity, through teachVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:49 Mar 12, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2185.IS S2185

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1 ing practical skills that promote self-regulation, 

2 goal setting, and a focus on the future. 

3 (B) The clear advantage of reserving 

4 human sexual activity for marriage, as a key 

5 contributing factor in the prevention of poverty 

6 and the preservation of physical and emotional 

7 health, based on social science research. 

8 (C) The foundational components of a 

9 healthy relationship and related research re10 garding the individual, economic, and societal 

11 advantages of bearing children within the con12 text of a committed marital relationship in 

13 order to form healthy marriages and safe and 

14 stable families. 

15 (D) The skills needed to resist the negative 

16 influences of the pervasive sex-saturated culture 

17 that presents teenage sexual activity as an ex18 pected norm, with few risks or negative con19 sequences. 

20 (E) The understanding of how drugs, alco21 hol, and the irresponsible use of social media 

22 can negatively influence healthy sexual decision23 making and can contribute to aggressive sexual 

24 behavior. 


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1 (F) A focused priority on the superior 

2 health benefits of sexual abstinence, ensuring 

3 that any information provided on contraception 

4 does not exaggerate its effectiveness in pre5 venting sexually transmitted diseases and preg6 nancies. 

7 (c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under subsection 

8 (a), the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 

9 give priority to applicants proposing programs to provide 

10 qualified sexual risk avoidance education that— 

11 (1) will serve youth ages 12 to 19; and 

12 (2) will promote protective benefits of parent13 child communication regarding healthy sexual deci14 sionmaking. 

15 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

16 (1) AGE APPROPRIATE.—The term ‘‘age appro17 priate’’ means appropriate for the general develop18 mental and social maturity of the age group (as op19 posed to the cognitive ability to understand a topic 

20 or the atypical development of a small segment of 

21 the targeted population). 

22 (2) EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH.—The term 

23 ‘‘evidence-based approach’’ means an approach 

24 that— 


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1 (A) has a clear theoretical base that inte2 grates research findings with practical imple3 mentation expertise that is relevant to the field; 

4 (B) matches the needs and desired out5 comes for the intended audience; and 

6 (C) if implemented well, will demonstrate 

7 improved outcomes for the targeted population. 

8 (3) MEDICALLY ACCURATE.—The term ‘‘medi9 cally accurate’’ means referenced to peer-reviewed 

10 research by medical, educational, scientific, govern11 mental, or public health publications, organizations, 

12 or agencies. 

13 (4) SEXUAL ABSTINENCE.—The term ‘‘sexual 

14 abstinence’’ means voluntarily refraining from sexual 

15 activity. 

16 (5) SEXUAL ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘sexual ac17 tivity’’ means genital contact or sexual stimulation, 

18 including sexual intercourse. 

19 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

21 appropriated to carry out this Act $110,000,000 for 

22 each of fiscal years 2012 through 2016. Amounts 

23 authorized to carry out this Act shall be derived ex24 clusively from amounts in the Prevention and Public 

25 Health Fund established by section 4002 of the PaVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:49 Mar 12, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2185.IS S2185

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1 tient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 

2 300u–11). 

3 (2) FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of the 

4 amounts authorized to be appropriated under para5 graph (1) for a fiscal year— 

6 (A) not more than $1,000,000 are author7 ized to be used for Federal administrative costs; 

8 and 

9 (B) of the amounts used by the Secretary 

10 for such costs, not less than 40 percent shall be 

11 used for training and technical assistance by 

12 qualified experts who— 

13 (i) have singular experience in pro14 viding programmatic support in abstinence 

15 education; 

16 (ii) have expertise in theory-based ab17 stinence education curriculum development 

18 and implementation; 

19 (iii) have experience in developing sex20 ual risk avoidance evaluation instruments; 

21 and 

22 (iv) can offer technical assistance and 

23 training on a wide range of topics relevant 


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1 to the sexual risk avoidance (or abstinence 

2 education) field. 

Æ 


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