Utah House Passes Bill to Allow Schools to Skip Sex Education

The Utah House of Representatives on Feb. 22 passed a bill that would let school districts drop sex education classes. It also would bar instruction on contraceptives in those that elect to keep the courses.

HB 363 passed by a 45-28 late-afternoon vote, following attempts by various lawmakers to modify the bill. The final version would permit districts to forgo teaching about sex altogether and prohibit those that do from instructing students in “the use of contraceptive methods or devices.” An earlier version of HB 363 would have banned “instruction in the advocacy or encouragement of the use of contraceptive methods or devices.”

The measure represents a significant shift from current law, which requires high schools to teach sex education and prohibits only the advocacy of contraceptive use. Districts choose whether to simply emphasize abstinence or teach abstinence-only.

Lawmakers also amended HB 363 on the floor to reinforce the role of parents in the development and recommendation of abstinence-only materials and to require that those materials include components to help parents address the topic. The measure now advances to the Senate.

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