I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3583 
To provide for the overall health and well-being of young people, including 
the promotion and attainment of lifelong sexual health and healthy rela-
tionships, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 22, 2023 
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. CASTEN, 
Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. SWALWELL, Ms. GARCIA 
of Texas, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. CASTOR of 
Florida, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. 
WILSON of Florida, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. POCAN, Ms. BUSH, 
Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. TRONE, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. CLARKE of 
New York, Ms. CHU, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. STRICK-
LAND, Mr. BEYER, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Ms. CROCKETT) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide for the overall health and well-being of young 
people, including the promotion and attainment of life-
long sexual health and healthy relationships, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:16 Jun 08, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3583.IH
H3583
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Real Education and 
Access for Healthy Youth Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE AND FINDINGS. 
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 
young people with sex education and sexual health services 
that— 
(1) promote and uphold the rights of young 
people to information and services that empower 
them to make decisions about their bodies, health, 
sexuality, families, and communities in all areas of 
life; 
(2) are evidence-informed, comprehensive in 
scope, confidential, equitable, accessible, medically 
accurate and complete, age and developmentally ap-
propriate, culturally responsive, and trauma-in-
formed and resilience-oriented, and align with the 
National Sex Education Standards of the Future of 
Sex Ed Initiative; 
(3) provide information about the prevention, 
treatment, and care of pregnancy, sexually trans-
mitted infections, and interpersonal violence; 
(4) provide information about the importance of 
consent as a basis for healthy relationships and for 
autonomy in health care; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:16 Jun 08, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3583.IH
H3583
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
(5) provide information on gender identity and 
gender expression; 
(6) provide information on the historical and 
current condition in which education and health sys-
tems, policies, programs, services, and practices have 
uniquely and adversely impacted Black, Indigenous, 
Latine, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific 
Islander, and other People of Color; and 
(7) redress inequities in the delivery of sex edu-
cation and sexual health services to marginalized 
young people. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Young people need and have the right to sex 
education and sexual health services that are evi-
dence-informed, comprehensive in scope, confiden-
tial, equitable, accessible, medically accurate and 
complete, age and developmentally appropriate, cul-
turally responsive, and trauma-informed and resil-
ience-oriented. 
(2) Currently, there is a gap between the sex 
education that young people should be receiving 
based on expert standards and the sex education 
many actually receive. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:16 Jun 08, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3583.IH
H3583
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
(3) Only 38 States and the District of Colum-
bia mandate sex education or human immuno-
deficiency virus (HIV) education in schools. 
(4) When there is sex education or instruction 
regarding HIV or sexually transmitted infections 
(STI), 13 States do not require the content to be 
evidence-informed, medically accurate and complete, 
age and developmentally appropriate, or culturally 
responsive. 
(5) Many sex education programs and sexual 
health services currently available were not designed 
to and do not currently meet the needs of 
marginalized young people. Some such programs and 
services actually harm marginalized young people. 
(6) For marginalized young people, a lack of 
comprehensive in scope, confidential, equitable, and 
accessible sex education and sexual health services is 
not unfamiliar, but rather a longstanding manifesta-
tion of White supremacy, which has touched every 
aspect of our history, culture, and institutions, in-
cluding the education and health care systems. 
(7) The development and delivery of sexual 
health education and services in the United States 
historically has been rooted in the oppression of 
Black, Indigenous, Latine, Asian American, Native 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:16 Jun 08, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3583.IH
H3583
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and other People of 
Color. 
(8) The United States has a long history of eu-
genics and forced sterilization. The sexual and re-
productive rights and bodily autonomy of specific 
communities deemed ‘‘undesirable’’ or ‘‘defective’’ 
were targeted by our governments resulting in state- 
sanctioned violence and generations of trauma and 
oppression. These communities include— 
(A) people with low incomes; 
(B) immigrants; 
(C) people with disabilities; 
(D) people living with HIV; 
(E) survivors of interpersonal violence; 
(F) people who are incarcerated, detained, 
or who otherwise have encountered the crimi-
nal-legal system; 
(G) Black, Indigenous, Latine, Asian 
American, and other People of Color; 
(H) people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, 
transgender, and queer; and 
(I) young people who are pregnant and 
parenting. 
(9) Black young people are more likely to re-
ceive abstinence-only instruction. Research shows 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:16 Jun 08, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3583.IH
H3583
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS