Vermont becomes first state to mandate access to free condoms for middle schoolers
Vermont has become the first state in the U.S. to require public middle schools and high schools to provide free condoms for students.
A law that was signed by Gov. Phil Scott last year which amends the Vermont Statutes to require condoms for secondary schools has officially taken effect.
“In order to prevent or reduce unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, each school district shall make condoms available to all students in its secondary schools, free of charge. School district administrative teams, in consultation with school district nursing staff, shall determine the best manner in which to make condoms available to students,” reads the measure, in part.
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“At a minimum, condoms shall be placed in locations that are safe and readily accessible to students, including the school nurse's office.”
The condoms will be freely provided by Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, a regional chapter of the nation's largest abortion business, NBC's affiliate WCAX.
Signed into law last October, the condoms mandate for secondary schools was promoted as a means to help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions among youth.
Republican state Rep. Topper McFaun, who introduced the bill, told Vermont Public Radio last year that the condoms mandate was an effort to make sure that girls don't “have to make the decision, that crucial decision, to have an abortion or not.”
“… that’s what I’m trying to prevent,” he continued, as reported by VPR. “And the way to do that is to provide ways to allow people to protect themselves.”
Critics of the legislation included Sharon Toborg of the Vermont Right to Life Committee, who believed that the bill, while likely built on “good intentions,” will encourage sexual promiscuity among minors.
“But the reality is that when you encourage sexual activity among young kids, and treat it as normal and acceptable for 12-year-olds to be engaging in sexual activity, you are creating an atmosphere that will lead to more sexual activity and more unintended pregnancies,” Toborg told VPR last year.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, no school-based program of condom distribution has resulted in an increase in sexual activity among students.
“CDC researchers systematically reviewed scientific papers that evaluated school-based CAPs in the U.S. and found that no programs reported any increase in sexual activity, number of sex partners, frequency of sex, or other sexual risk behaviors,” stated the CDC.
“Two school districts actually showed lower levels of sexual risk among their students in schools with CAPs, perhaps because of educational materials or messages handed out with condoms.”
