teens holding hands

Controversial ‘Abstinence Only’ Sex Ed Law Draws Praise, Criticism in Tenn.

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Earlier this month, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signed a controversial new sex education law. According to the bill, the new law “exclusively and emphatically promotes sexual risk avoidance through abstinence” and forbids teachers from mentioning “gateway sexual activity” in the state’s sex education courses. The freshly inked legislation, known as HB 3621 in the state’s House of Representatives and SB 3310 in the Senate, bars teachers from discussing sexual activity such as genital touching as alternatives to intercourse. Under the new law, which passed with large majorities in both chambers, instructors and organizations may be fined $500 for discussing so-called gateway sexual activity in sex education classes. Reactions to the bill, as well as what “gateway sexual activity” entails, have been mixed.

birth control pills

Majority of Young Adults Don’t Know Enough About Birth Control Methods, Study Finds

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A majority of young adults don’t know enough about contraceptives, according to results from a new Guttmacher Institute study. Six in 10 supposedly “underestimate” the effectiveness of birth control pills and other oral contraceptives. The report, Young Adults’ Contraceptive Knowledge, Norms and Attitudes: Associations with Risk of Unintended Pregnancy, involved 1,800 young adults, ages 18 to 29. Although approximately half of the male responders - and about 70 percent of female survey takers - stated that they were “committed to avoiding pregnancy,” around 40 percent of the survey population believed birth control was irrelevant, stating that “when it is your time to get pregnant, it will happen.”

The study shows a clear connection between young adults’ knowledge of contraceptive methods and devices and the likelihood they would engage in unprotected sexual intercourse. According to the authors, the odds of a female responder having unprotected sex within a three month window decreased by about nine percent with every correct answer she submitted for the questionnaire, with the odds of the responder using long-acting forms of contraception, such as hormonal treatments, rising by 17 percent.