The Department of Education and Health of the US state of Vermont has insisted that condoms be available within school walls for all middle and high school students. The relevant law was approved and signed by the Republican Governor Phil Scott. It will enter into force on July 1, 2021.
– To prevent sexually transmitted diseases, as well as reduce unwanted pregnancies, and as a result, reduce the number of abortions, secondary school students should be provided with condoms free of charge, – the text of the document says.
In 2019, officials conducted a survey among students and found that, starting at the age of 14, most of them are sexually active. At the same time, only a third of the respondents use contraception.
Condoms will be kept in a safe, but at the same time, easily accessible place, for example, in a medical room.
“We should not allow situations when young people make a decision – to have an abortion or to maintain a pregnancy,” says the initiator of the bill, Member of the State House of Representatives Topper McFown. – We just have to make sure that schoolchildren do not have to make such a choice in principle. We must explain to them how to protect ourselves and our health.
But not everyone in Vermont believes the law was needed.
“If a child is trying to find a condom at the age of 12, it should be a cause for concern,” said political analyst Sharon Toborg. – It would be better not to distribute condoms, but to devote all efforts to preventing child abuse.
Vermont will become the first American state to oblige schools to provide contraception to students.
