I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1551 
To provide for the reduction of adolescent pregnancy, HIV rates, and other 
sexually transmitted diseases, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 17, 2009 
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. 
MCDERMOTT, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. CROWLEY, 
Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DOYLE, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. FARR, 
Mr. FATTAH, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. WASSERMAN
SCHULTZ, Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. 
LARSEN of Washington, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. 
NORTON, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. BRADY of Pennsyl-
vania, and Mrs. DAVIS of California) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To provide for the reduction of adolescent pregnancy, HIV 
rates, and other sexually transmitted diseases, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Responsible Education 
About Life Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Leading public health and medical profes-
sional organizations, including the American Medical 
Association (‘‘AMA’’), the American Medical Stu-
dent Association (‘‘AMSA’’), the American Nurses 
Association (‘‘ANA’’), the American Academy of Pe-
diatrics (‘‘AAP’’), the American College of Obstetri-
cians and Gynecologists (‘‘ACOG’’), the American 
Public Health Association (‘‘APHA’’), the Institute 
of Medicine (‘‘IOM’’) and the Society of Adolescent 
Medicine (‘‘SAM’’), stress the need for sexuality 
education that includes messages about abstinence 
and provides young people with information about 
contraception for the prevention of teen pregnancy, 
HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted infections 
(‘‘STIs’’). 
(2) A 2005 statement from the APHA urged 
that ‘‘The U.S. Congress should authorize and fully 
fund legislation that promotes comprehensive sexu-
ality education programs which include information 
about both abstinence and contraception, include 
parent-child communications components; and teach 
goal-setting, decision-making, negotiation, and com-
munication skills’’ and that ‘‘sexual health informa-
tion disseminated by federal agencies, be medically 
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and scientifically accurate and based on theories and 
strategies with demonstrated evidence of effective-
ness.’’ In a 2006 statement, APHA reiterated that 
it ‘‘has strongly supported comprehensive sexuality 
education that includes information about concepts 
of healthy sexuality, sexual orientation and toler-
ance, personal responsibility, risks of HIV and other 
STIs and unwanted pregnancy, access to reproduc-
tive health care, and benefits and risks of condoms 
and other contraceptive methods. Sexuality edu-
cation should be non-judgmental and support par-
ent-child communication and should not impose reli-
gious or ideological viewpoints upon students.’’. 
(3) The SAM stated in a 2006 position paper 
that ‘‘SAM supports a comprehensive approach to 
sexual risk reduction including abstinence as well as 
correct and consistent use of condoms and contra-
ception among teens who choose to be sexually ac-
tive.’’ In addition, ‘‘Efforts to promote abstinence 
should be provided within health education programs 
that provide adolescents with complete and accurate 
information about sexual health, including informa-
tion about concepts of healthy sexuality, sexual ori-
entation and tolerance, personal responsibility, risks 
of HIV and other STIs and unwanted pregnancy, 
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access to reproductive health care, and benefits and 
risks of condoms and other contraceptive methods.’’. 
(4) Most Americans believe that sex education 
should promote abstinence and provide information 
about the effectiveness and benefits of contraception. 
According to the results of a 2005–2006 nationally 
representative survey of U.S. adults, more than 8 in 
10 of those polled support comprehensive sex edu-
cation. 
(5) There is strong evidence that more com-
prehensive sex education can effectively help young 
people delay sexual initiation, even as it increases 
contraceptive use among sexually active youth. Ac-
cording to a report published by the National Cam-
paign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 
‘‘two-thirds of the 48 comprehensive programs that 
supported both abstinence and the use of condoms 
and contraceptives for sexually active teens had posi-
tive behavioral effects’’. Many either delayed or re-
duced sexual activity, reduced the number of sexual 
partners, or increased condom or contraceptive use. 
(6) There is no evidence that federally funded 
abstinence-only-until-marriage programs are effec-
tive in stopping or delaying teen sex. A recent, con-
gressionally mandated evaluation of federally funded 
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abstinence-only programs by Mathematica Policy Re-
search found that these programs have no beneficial 
impact on whether young people abstain, when they 
first have sex, or their number of sexual partners. 
(7) Comprehensive sexuality education pro-
grams respect the diversity of values and beliefs rep-
resented in the community and will complement and 
augment the sexuality education children receive 
from their families and faith communities. 
(8) Most young people have sex for the first 
time at about age 17, but do not marry until their 
middle or late 20s. This means that young adults 
are at risk of unwanted pregnancy and STIs for 
nearly a decade. Therefore, teens need access to full, 
complete, and medically and factually accurate infor-
mation regarding sexuality, including contraception, 
condoms, STI/HIV prevention, and abstinence. 
(9) From the early 1990s through the early 
2000s, rates of teen pregnancy birth and abortion in 
the United States all declined dramatically—pri-
marily, but not exclusively, because of increased and 
more effective contraceptive use among sexually ac-
tive teens. These declines have since stalled, how-
ever, and new data from the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health 
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