Comprehensive sex education is now the law of the land in Illinois.
Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law a bill requiring schools offer comprehensive sex education in grades six through twelve Aug. 16. The law will benefit LGBTQ youth, advocates say.
HB 2675 requires that schools teach about contraception and preventing sexually transmitted infections, in addition to teaching about abstinence. Advocates have argued that abstinence-only education tends to assume that young people will grow up to be heterosexual, excluding LGBTQ young people from the curriculum. But some Illinois schools thought they were prohibited from offering comprehensive sex ed because Illinois law did not mandate it.
The new law will require schools to use up-to-date teaching materials, including information on HIV. The law does allow parents to opt their children out of the curriculum without repercussion.
Advocates have been pushing for years to pass such a bill.
Planned Parenthood celebrated the bill's signing in a statement.
"Planned Parenthood applauds Governor Pat Quinn for signing a law that ensures that teens in Illinois have access to medically accurate, evidence based, age appropriate, comprehensive information when they receive sex education in Illinois public schools," the organization said.
