Medical Accuracy Bill Dropped in the House

Representatives Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Jim Moran (D-VA) introduced the Guarantee of Medical Accuracy in Sex Education Act late yesterday. There are currently 22 co-sponsors:

Rep Brown, Sherrod [D-OH-13]
Rep Capps, Lois [D-CA-23]
Rep Crowley, Joseph [D-NY-7]
Rep Davis, Danny K. [D-IL-7]
Rep Farr, Sam [D-CA-17]
Rep Frank, Barney [D-MA-4]
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [D-AZ-7]
Rep Honda, Michael M. [D-CA-15]
Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18]
Rep Jefferson, William J. [D-LA-2]
Rep Larsen, Rick [D-WA-2]
Rep Lee, Barbara [D-CA-9]
Rep McGovern, James P. [D-MA-3]
Rep Meehan, Martin T. [D-MA-5]
Rep Miller, Brad [D-NC-13]
Rep Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY-8]
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]
Rep Shays, Christopher [R-CT-4]
Rep Stark, Fortney Pete [D-CA-13]
Rep Wexler, Robert [D-FL-19]
Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [D-CA-6]
Rep Wynn, Albert Russell [D-MD-4]

Highlights from the bill after the jump.

To prohibit departments, agencies, and other instrumentalities of the Federal Government from providing assistance to an entity for the development of course material or the provision of instruction on human development and sexuality, if such material or instruction will include medically inaccurate information, and for other purposes.

Over 1 billion dollars in citizen taxpayer money has been spent on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in the past quarter century without significant monitoring of the content of these programs in order to guarantee they contain medically accurate information and exclude inaccurate data.

REQUIREMENTS. -A department, agency, or other instrumentality of the Federal Government shall not provide funds or other assistance to an entity for the development of course material or the provision of instruction on human development and sexuality, including any sex education, family life education, abstinence education, comprehensive health education, or character education, if such material or instruction will include medically inaccurate information. Before providing such funds or other assistance, the department, agency, or instrumentality shall require a sufficient assurance that such material or instruction will not include medically inaccurate information.

DEFINITIONS.-In this Act, the term ”medically inaccurate information” means information related to medical, psychiatric, psychological, empirical, or statistical statements that is unsupported or contradicted by peer-reviewed research by leading medical, psychological, psychiatric, and public health organizations and agencies.

I would really love to hear why more Representatives aren’t co-sponsors and how anyone could actually be against this bill. Any takers?