Arizona Senate Requires Parental Notification for Sex Ed, Birth Control, STD Treatment

by Roxann MtJoy · 2010-03-25 15:30:00 UTC
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If you're a teenager in Arizona and you'd like to take control of your sexual or mental health, you'd better hope you have an excellent relationship with your parents. State senators want their approval before you can take sex ed, treat an STD, get birth control, or even get a mental health screening. SB 1305, which squeaked by on a narrow 16-13 margin, is being called the "Parents' Bill of Rights."

Proponents of this bill allege it best serves the interest of the children. Republican Senator Sylvia Allen says that "Government has no business interfering in that bond between a parent and a child.'' I think Senator Allen and I have different views on what "interfering" means, since I would say that the government forcing someone to reveal information they'd otherwise keep private to be the real interference here.

Opponents of this legislation point to the incredibly obvious fact that not every teenager has supportive parents. Are we really going to deny young people in the throws of puberty access to comprehensive sex education because their mom is uncomfortable with it? Or medical treatment if they contract a sexually transmitted disease?

And how about a teen dead-set on having sex: Are we going to withhold birth control because her dad is Catholic and doesn't believe in it? Because let's be real here: this law isn't going to prevent sexual activity; it is going to prevent safe sex. According the American Medical Association, 40% of teenagers don't tell their parents that they are sexually active. Furthermore, when parental notification is required to be able to practice safe sex, a mere one percent say they'd actually stop having sex.

Listen, I would love to live in a world where everyone had fabulous, supportive parents who provide a safe space where teens can talk openly about sexual health and activity. But guess what? We don't live in that world. There are plenty of parents who would punish their kids for even asking for birth control and there are plenty of teens who won't go to their parents for sex education, no matter how open they are. Arizona's new bill won't create that parent-child utopia we'd all like; it will take the world we actually do live in and make it worse.

Photo credit: Lenifuzhead

Roxann MtJoy is a freelance writer who previously worked as a case manager at a domestic violence shelter. She is currently attending graduate school for theater in Mount Vernon, N.Y.
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