Arizona

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Arizona received $2,009,189 in federal funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in Fiscal Year 2003.¹

Arizona Sexuality Education Law

Arizona schools are not required to teach sexuality education or sexually transmitted disease (STD)/HIV education. If a school chooses to teach any of these, abstinence must be stressed. Further, if a school chooses to teach HIV education, while such instruction must be medically accurate, it cannot promote a "homosexual lifestyle," portray "homosexuality as a positive alternative life-style," or "suggest that some methods of sex are safe methods of homosexual sex."

Parents may exempt their children from sexuality education and/or STD/HIV education classes. This is referred to as an "opt-out" policy.

See Arizona Revised Statutes Sections 15-711 and 15-716.

Recent Legislation

The Arizona legislature does not carry bills over from one legislative session to the next. Related 2003 and 2004 bills are listed. Arizona's session ended at the end of May, 2004.

Bill Requiring that Sexuality Education be Medically Accurate Died, 2004 Session

Senate Bill 1096, introduced in January 2004 and passed out of committee in February, died at the end of the legislative session. The bill would have required that all sex education curricula be medically accurate. It would also have specifically allowed schools to provide information on all sexually transmitted diseases, not only HIV/AIDS.

Bill Requiring Parental Opt-In Died, 2004 Session

House Bill 2189, introduced in January 2004, would have required written parental consent for a student to participate in a sex education course. The bill, which also would have prohibited presentations or instruction about sexuality in any course other than a formal sex education course without prior approval by the school's governing board, failed to pass committee in February 2004 and subsequently died.

Medical Accuracy Bill Died, 2003 Session

Senate Bill 1142, introduced in January 2003, would have required that any sexuality education curricula taught in schools be medically accurate. It would also have authorized school districts that provide instruction on HIV/AIDS to provide instruction on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The bill passed the Senate Education Committee on February 24, 2003 but died when the legislature went into special session.

Events of Note

In June 2003, Governor Janet Napolitano (D) line-item vetoed $470,000 for the state's match of the federal Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage program "because, as the Goldwater Institute recently concluded, government has proven to be an ineffective communicator of the abstinence message, and because the state lottery fund is better spent elsewhere."

She subsequently agreed that the state would allow privately raised funds to be used as matching funds for federal abstinence-only-until-marriage dollars, but there is no news yet as to how successful such fundraising efforts have been.

Arizona's Youth: Statistical Information of Note²

• In 2003, 41% of female high school students and 45% of male high school students in Arizona reported ever having had sexual intercourse compared to 45% of female high school students and 48% of male high school students nationwide.
• In 2003, 3% of female high school students and 6% of male high school students in Arizona reported having had sexual intercourse before age 13 compared to 4% of female high school students and 10% of male high school students nationwide.
• In 2003, 10% of female high school students and 12% of male high school students in Arizona reported having had four or more lifetime sexual partners compared to 11% of female high school students and 18% of male high school students nationwide.
• In 2003, 30% of female high school students and 31% of male high school students in Arizona reported being currently sexually active (defined as having had sexual intercourse in the three months prior to the survey) compared to 35% of females and 34% of males nationwide.
• In 2003, among those high school students who reported being currently sexually active, 29% of females and 30% of males in Arizona reported having used alcohol or drugs the last time they had sexual intercourse compared to 21% of females and 30% of males nationwide.
• In 2003, among those high school students who reported being currently sexually active, 49% of females and 66% of males in Arizona reported having used condoms the last time they had sexual intercourse compared to 57% of females and 69% of males nationwide.
• In 2003, among those high school students who reported being currently sexually active, 23% of females and 13% of males in Arizona reported having used birth control pills the last time they had sexual intercourse compared to 21% of females and 13% of males nationwide.
• In 2003, 5% of female high school students and 4% of male high school students in Arizona reported ever having been pregnant or gotten someone pregnant compared to 5% of female high school students and 4% of male high school students nationwide.
• In 2003, 81% of high school students in Arizona reported having been taught about AIDS/HIV in school compared to 88% of high school students nationwide.
• In 2000, Arizona's abortion rate was 21 per 1,000 women ages 15-19 compared to a teen abortion rate of 24 per 1,000 nationwide.³
• In 2001, Arizona's birth rate was 64 per 1,000 females ages 15-19 compared to a teen birth rate of 45 per 1,000 nationwide.⁴

Title V Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Funding

Arizona received $1,056,905 in federal Title V funding in Fiscal Year 2003. The Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage grant requires states to provide three state-raised dollars or the equivalent in services for every four federal dollars received. The state match can be provided in part or in full by local groups. In Arizona, the federal funding is matched by $893,000 in state funding. The program has also received a one-time sum of $670,000 from tobacco settlement funding.

In the most recent state budget, Governor Napolitano (D) line item vetoed the state match. Due to about $1,000,000 in leftover federal and state Title V abstinence funding, Arizona's Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage program will continue to run through June 30, 2004. Unless Arizona reinstates its state match for federal Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage funding or the matching funds are raised privately, Arizona will no longer have a Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage program.

Currently, Arizona uses Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage funding to contract with six local abstinence-only-until-marriage groups. These groups use a variety of curricula including AC Green's Game Plan, Sex Can Wait, Choosing the Best, and Managing Pressures (though to a lesser degree than the other curricula). According to SIECUS' review of these curricula, many of them are shame- and fear-based. Additionally, they contain biased information regarding gender and sexual orientation. Choosing the Best and Game Plan also contain medically inaccurate information regarding STDs and condoms.

Special Projects of Regional and National Significance-Community Based Abstinence Education (SPRANS-CBAE) and Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA) Grantees

There are currently two SPRANS-CBAE grantees in Arizona: Pima Prevention Partnership and WestCare Inc. There is one AFLA grantee in Arizona: Winslow Unified School District #1.

The Winslow Unified School District #1 currently has a teen birth rate and an STD infection rate that is more than double the national average. It is a Navajo School District and works with a traditionally underserved population. Students in grades five through 12 receive at least 20 hours of abstinence-only-until-marriage programming each year.

The Winslow Unified School District #1 currently uses the Family Accountability Communicating Teen Sexuality (FACTS) curriculum in addition to A.C. Green's I've Got the Power curriculum. The FACTS curriculum uses fear- and shame-based messages, and suggests that sexual activity outside of marriage has inevitable negative consequences. This curriculum also includes biased information about gender, sexual orientation, and pregnancy options.

Federal and State Funding for Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs in FY 2003⁵

Past Federal Funding for Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs

Title V Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Coordinator

Dorothy Hastings
Arizona Department of Health Services
411 N. 24th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85008
Phone: (602) 364-1421

Arizonan Organizations that Support Comprehensive Sexuality Education

ACLU of Arizona
P.O. Box 17148
Phoenix, AZ 85011
Phone: (602) 650-1967

Arizona Family Planning Council
2920 N. 24th Ave., Suite 26
Phoenix, AZ 85015
Phone: (602) 258-5777

Arizona Human Rights Fund
P.O. Box 25044
Phoenix, AZ 85002
Phone: (602) 650-0900
http://www.ahrf.org

Planned Parenthood Action Fund/Central & Northern Arizona
5651 North 7th St.
Phoenix, AZ 85014
Phone: (602) 227-7526

Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona Action Fund
2255 N. Wyatt Dr.
Tucson, AZ 85712
Phone: (520) 624-1761

The Arizona Coalition on Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting
P.O. Box 33305
Phoenix, AZ 85067
Phone: (602) 265-4337
http://www.azteenpregnancy.org

Arizona Organizations that Oppose Comprehensive Sexuality Education

Alliance Defense Fund
15333 North Pima Rd., Suite 165
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Phone: (800) TELL-ADF
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org

Center for Arizona Policy
11000 N. Scottsdale Rd., Suite 120
Scottsdale, Arizona 85254
http://www.azpolicy.org

Goldwater Institute
500 E. Coronado Rd.
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone: (602) 462-5000
www.goldwaterinstitute.org

Women of Destiny
P.O. Box 90632
Phoenix, AZ 85066
Phone: (480) 699-4990
http://www.womenofdestiny.net

Newspapers in Arizona

Arizona Daily Star
Norma Coile
Medical/Health Editor
4850 S. Park Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85714
Phone: (520) 573-4102

The Arizona Republic
Thomas Ropp
Medical/Health Writer
200 E. Van Buren St.
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone: (602) 444-6880

Tucson Citizen
Anne Denogean
Medical/Health Editor
4850 S. Park Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85714
Phone: (520) 573-4582

References

1. This refers to the fiscal year for the Federal Government which begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2003 begins on October 1, 2002 and ends on September 30, 2003.
2. Unless otherwise cited, all statistical information comes from: J. Grunbaum, et. al., "Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance - United States, 2003," Surveillance Summaries, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 53, no.SS-2, May 21, 2004, pp. 1-95. Available online at: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/yrbs/.
3. U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Statistics: Overall Trends, Trends by Race and Ethnicity and State-by-State Information, (New York: Alan Guttmacher Institute, February, 2004). Available online at http://www.guttmacher.org.
4. A. Papillo, et.al., Facts at a Glance, (Washington, DC: Child Trends, February, 2004).
5. SIECUS was not able to obtain exact funding information for all grantees.