Adolescent Health

ACOG advocates for comprehensive, medically accurate, age-appropriate sexuality education from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Our Position

ACOG advocates for curricula that meet these requirements by supporting funding for comprehensive sexuality education programs at the federal level, including Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) and the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP), and opposing “abstinence-only” legislative mandates that require school systems to omit evidence-based information or provide medically inaccurate information about sexual health.

ACOG advocates for privacy and the ability of adolescents to consent to health-care procedures. While most young people involve their parents in their health care decisions, government mandates are ill-advised and can stigmatize and deter young women from seeking safe care.

ACOG advocates for:

• Confidentiality in adolescents’ electronic medical records
• Self-consent for critical pregnancy care such as epidurals
• Access to abortion care without parental-involvement mandates