Toward the end of a 6-week comprehensive sex-ed class in Utah taught by Planned Parenthood, an innocent, well-meaning 12-year-old girl raised her hand and asked, “if a woman has sex with another woman, can she get pregnant?” The Planned Parenthood sex educator answered the seemingly basic question as follows:

“That question is only slightly complicated because [pregnancy] requires that somebody has a uterus and the other person has a penis. So, we know that there are sometimes people who identify as a woman, but whose body parts include a penis. So, the only time a person can get pregnant is if there is somebody with a uterus and somebody with a penis. And that could mean that both people identify as a woman, or one person identifies as a woman and the other as a man, or both identify as a man even.”

I assure you that 12 year old girl left the class more confused than ever and lacking a simple understanding of basic human reproduction.

There are those in Utah that are pushing for comprehensive sex education to be taught in middle schools and high schools all over the state. Advocates claim that abstinence-based sex education is outdated and should be replaced with a “research-based” program that will help teens better understand their sexuality and sexual health. But just what are these comprehensive sex-ed classes teaching teens in Utah?

In the summer of 2018, I decided to attend such a class at the West Valley Public Library and find out. The class entitled "Safe Smart Summer," was advertised as being for teens ages 14-19, and though parental consent was initially mentioned as a requirement, there was no enforcement or follow-up on this. Here are some of the main things I learned:

Gender is Fluid

On my first day in class, I was informed that gender is not something we are born with. It is built by society; “it is something that someone feels inside of them, who they want to be.” The teacher explained that the gender spectrum is a circle, that a person could identify as a man or a woman, “but they might also identify as something completely different.” The lesson went on to include a very long vocabulary list of different sexualities, including bisexual, pansexual, asexual, demisexual, queer, and gray sexual. The instructor concluded by reassuring us that we can choose our gender based on how we feel, even if that changes over the course of our lives.

There is Little Risk in “Normal” Sexual Activities

During the 5th class, we were given cards, each with an “activity” written on them. They included actions like oral sex, mutual masturbation, one-night-stands, and other sexual activities. The teacher instructed us to put these cards into different columns labeled “Low to No Risk,” “Some Risk,” “High Risk,” and “Can Raise the Risk.”

As students, we collectively agreed to put most of the activities under “High Risk.” The teacher, however, disagreed and organized them as follows.

Just like that, we watched the instructor take the cards out of the “High Risk” category until there were only 3 activities remaining in that column. He explained that having multiple partners or a one-night-stand are not high risk as long as one is using protection. The pattern he pointed out is that there is a large variety of “activities” a person can do that are not considered to be high risk.

The following class, we were presented with scenarios involving teens and were asked to come up with solutions. The following is one example:

Chris and Terry have been together for 2 years and they’re totally in love, everyone assumes that they’re having sex, but the farthest they’ve gone is mutual masturbation.  But Chris’s mom offered to buy them condoms. Terry isn’t sure about having sex, but Chris thinks they should go for it. Everybody already thinks they’re having sex, so what’s the big deal?

We came up with backstories for each of the characters in the scenarios and different responses they could have in their situations. What was most disturbing to me about categorizing these behaviors and discussing the scenarios was the normalization and encouragement of these activities. Teens are impressionable and curious, and here they are being told that certain activities are “safe” and completely acceptable. I felt physically sick as I listened to the 12 year old girl ask what many of these activities were and then leave with little to no understanding of moral values or good judgement.

Planned Parenthood uses these classes to market their services

Over the course of the 6 weeks, the teacher repeatedly reminded us that we should go to Planned Parenthood (the nation’s largest abortion provider) for STI testing, birth control, and even help with abusive relationships. On the last day of class, I asked the teacher what services Planned Parenthood provides apart from contraceptives, STI testing, and abortions. The teacher responded,

“Folks sometimes think of Planned Parenthood as just doing that- but they do wellness exams, you can go there for just a regular check-up and they do that for men and women; Birth control, annual exams and pap smears, pregnancy testing, STI testing and treatment, vasectomies, HIV testing and treatment, if somebody has their birth control fail, you can go get emergency contraception, the pill, you can go get vaccines- the Gardasil shot for HPV, and adoption or prenatal information. So, if somebody becomes pregnant, you can actually get your prenatal care done at Planned Parenthood up until somebody is going to give birth. They don’t do those services but they help up to having a baby. And they also do the abortion services.”

While Planned Parenthood does provide contraception and abortion services, claiming that they provide prenatal care was an outright misrepresentation of their organization. The Planned Parenthood of Utah annual report, which provides information about the type and number of services provided each year, makes no mention of any prenatal services in their 2017 report.

(clip taken from this interview with Ted Capener)

Planned Parenthood, who would not benefit from women having healthy, successful pregnancies but makes a profit off terminating pregnancies, uses these sex-ed classes as an attempt to herd teens into their sales funnel.  

Comprehensive sex-ed classes like the one I attended will not encourage teens to make smart and healthy decisions. These classes will only distort their perception of gender and reproduction and encourage them to experiment with different sexual behaviors.

Comprehensive sex education is not what Utah teens need. It is not what Utah parents want. It is a distorted, ideology-based course that is not in the best interest of developing young people, but is rather a way for Planned Parenthood to create business for themselves. We must ensure comprehensive sex ed is not implemented in Utah schools.