My State Senator, Velmanette Montgomery, has sent out her little newsletter updating us on what is up in Albany. One bill she is co-sponsoring catches my attention as something so basic we shouldn't even still be arguing about it. S.5121-C, the "Healthy Teens Act," currently co-sponsored by Velmanette Montgomery, Nick Spano, George Winner (good name for a politician!!) and Suzi Oppenheimer sets out to establish "age-appropriate, medically accurate sex education in schools," to quote Velmanette's newsletter. Apparently the Assembly has passed a good sex education bill that includes funding programs providing accurate information on contraception, but, as is so often the case, the NY State Senate is slow to do the right thing. S. 5121 insists that funding go not just to abstinence only, which is one more failed Bush policy, but also supports REAL sex education that is actually relevant to a teen's life. Abstinence only has proven ineffective and is linked to INCREASED teen pregnancy. Medically accurate sex ed has been linked to reduced teen pregnancy.

Please, write your State Legislators and urge them to support the Healthy Teens Act (S. 5121). Thank you Velmanette Montgomery for supporting this bill. As usual, I am proud she is my State Senator.