As promised, here are the details on the Sex-Ed Mandate that’s coming up for a vote as early as this Thursday. We have received a lot of questions in response to our heads-up email and text over the weekend, so we’ll do our best to address them one by one. Some people are also being told by their state legislators that MFI’s warnings about this bill are “misinformation.” This talking point is more than a bit ironic since it is coming from people who consider anal sex with a saran wrap prophylactic “medically accurate” and “age appropriate” education for 12-year-olds. More on that below.

Here’s some Sex-Ed Mandate FAQ:

1) Is this really a “mandate”?

Yes. MA Senate Bill 2459, the “Healthy Youth” Act, is a state-wide, Sex-Ed Mandate. This bill forces schools to use sex-ed that’s tied to a curriculum framework, officially known as the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework. The Framework currently just serves as a guideline for schools. But the Healthy Youth Act will make the Framework a standard that all schools teaching sex-ed must follow. This takes control over sex-ed out of the hands of local schools and parents and gives it all to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

2) What is in the Framework?

Nobody knows yet. A DESE panel has been working to update the Framework, and it is set to be published later this year. This means senators voting this week have no idea what set of standards they will be forcing upon Massachusetts schools. DESE could effectively mandate any content they want. Here are some examples of content from Planned Parenthood’s Get Real curricula that DESE has already recommended for MA middle schools. MFI discovered these examples from purchasing the materials and going through them page by page. The images linked below are taken directly from the Get Real curriculum:

Although the text of the Sex-Ed Mandate requires that curricula be “age appropriate” and “medically accurate,” DESE gets to interpret what those terms actually mean. Shockingly, DESE rates the above Get Real content as “good” for age-appropriateness and “excellent” for meeting the Framework standards. 

3) Who is helping write the new Framework?

Planned Parenthood is influencing the Framework rewrite with one of their top officials on the panel updating the Framework. Planned Parenthood’s website claims it is the largest sex-education provider in the country. They bring in significant revenue every year from schools purchasing their curriculum, and stand to profit from a mandate framework that favors their curriculum. The organization will also grow their client base with a curriculum that encourages children to engage in sexual activity. Planned parenthood promotes itself to young people as a place for STD/STI testing and treatment, abortion services, and transgender hormone therapy.

The “expertise” that the aforementioned Planned Parenthood official brings to the Framework rewrite stems from her leadership over The Get Real Teen Council. This is a Planned Parenthood initiative that trains high schoolers how to teach children as young as 12 to “consent” to sex as “peer educators.” However, children under 16 are not legally capable of consenting to sex, as the age of consent for sex in MA is 16. A 12 year-old child having sex in MA is the victim of statutory rape. This is not education. This is grooming.

4) Doesn’t the bill give parents the ability to opt their child out of sex-ed class and review the curriculum themselves? 

The bill does include an opt-out requirement and state schools should make curricula available to parents. However, existing law already has a nearly identical opt-out provision, and it doesn’t work. An opt-out puts the burden on busy parents to send a letter removing their child from a sex-ed class. Parents also have to request to review the curriculum themselves, a notoriously difficult process that requires parents to take time off of work, show up at their child’s school, negotiate with school administrators, and review potentially hundreds of pages of material while at the school. 

5) Doesn’t the bill require teaching abstinence?

Yes. However, most materials, including Get Real, frame the concept of abstinence as only one of many options. The overwhelming majority of the content actually instructs children in how to engage in explicit sexual activity, making the abstinence message ineffective.

6) When would this go into effect?

If passed, the Sex-Ed Mandate will go into effect during the 2020-2021 school year. 

7) What else should I know about this bill?

The Healthy Youth Act mandates that schools teaching sex-ed must include LGBTQ+ affirming material. 

8) What can I do about this?

Here’s how you can help stop Planned Parenthood propaganda from entering your child’s school:

  • Contact your state senator and tell them to oppose an Act Relative to Healthy Youth, SB 2459.
  • Go to your child’s school and request to review their curriculum. Contact MFI if you need help with this process.
  • Attend MFI’s 2020 Lobby Day to show Beacon Hill MA parents are a force to be reckoned with.
  • Donate to MFI, so we can continue bringing people together from across the state to stop this bill and other anti-family attacks.