State Efforts to Ensure Medical Accuracy in Sex Education Programs

Recently, many states have implemented requirements for scientific or medical accuracy in sexuality education and HIV/STD prevention programs. While seemingly uncontroversial, these requirements respond to the increasing injection of ideology into sexuality education. Health professionals and government advisory groups within the United States provide critical mechanisms to reach scientific consensus. Key elements of state definitions of medical accuracy include the weight of scientific evidence, the importance of scientific theory, peer review, and recognition by mainstream scientific and health organizations. A concise definition of medical accuracy is proposed which may be useful to policy makers, health educators, and other health practitioners.