ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û

Reproductive freedom has been and will continue to be one of the issues closest to my heart. I just moved to the state at the beginning of the month to begin an internship with the ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û, and I'm already excited about the focus here on women's health issues and reproductive rights. I hope to keep working toward issues pertaining to women's rights, as well as to provide my own input and ideas to help uphold the right to a medically safe abortion.

After 34 years, Roe v. Wade continues to be a source of reinforcement and inspiration for those concerned about reproductive rights. The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û and the Healthy Youth Alliance in the state of Washington are working toward a more comprehensive Sex-Education curriculum that would provide information to elementary and high school students about topics currently restricted in many districts: for example, in 28% of our state's sexual education courses, teachers cannot discuss abortion. There is some evidence from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction that there may be a link between students who learn more wide-reaching sexual education than abstinence-only programs and declining teen pregnancy rates. Raising informed youth who are aware of their options and rights involving sexuality and HIV/AIDS education would provide them with the confidence to make the right decisions. To me, a bill introduced last week mandating medically accurate sexual education in schools is an imperative as well as an encouraging step for our children's future.