Sex Ed in Minnesota

Minnesota Monitor points to a bill that has been languishing in the Minnesota legislature that has been recurring over the last eight years. The bill has been held back under threat of veto by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, but a recent survey (PDF) showed that 89 percent of Minnesotans support a comprehensive approach to sex ed, this includes abstinence, but also includes ways to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Furthermore 81 percent of Minnesotans also rightly believe that sex ed classes do not cause students to have sex and more than half of parents believe such education should begin as early as sixth grade. So it appears that the only thing holding a medically accurate, comprehensive plan protected by a Minnesota statute back from implementation isn't popular opinion; it's the backwards legislators and Republican governor.