Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, speaking to Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, on the floor of the Alabama Senate on Feb. 17, 2026, in Montgomery, Alabama. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
The Alabama House of Representatives Tuesday passed a bill that would require abstinence only teaching – called “sexual risk avoidance” — instead of comprehensive sex education.
SB 209, sponsored by Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, also prohibits instructors from teaching students how to obtain contraceptives or how to use them. Parents are able to opt their children out of the class without any academic consequences.
“We are just updating the sex ed curriculum to include issues that are now facing our students, that didn’t base students years ago, like the sentencing and cyberbullying,” Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, said. “We’re also updating terminology to be very specific that this is sexual risk avoidance, that’s the new term that’s been used in the last few years.”
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According to the legislation, sexual risk avoidance is a “primary prevention approach to sex education that seeks to achieve the most favorable health outcomes for all Alabama youth.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2023, Alabama’s teen birth rate was 20.1 births per 1,000 females between 15 and 19 years old.
The bill passed 82-16 with minimal discussion. Rep. Marilyn Lands, D-Huntsville, raised concerns over the restrictions and offered an amendment that would allow access to information about contraception.
“I also have a concern that we’re prohibiting conversations about contraception and the resources for people that might need or want to use contraception,” Lands said during the debate.
Lands’ amendment failed to pass with a vote of 71-30. Rep. Barbara Boyd, said she thought the Legislature should be spending time on other bills.
“We ought to be taking up more time doing other things as we’re here spending time doing this,” she said on the House floor. “I understand what you are doing, but I think as legislators sometimes we are legislating too much.”
If signed, the bill would go into effect Oct. 1.
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Author: Andrea Tinker