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Sarah Anderson brings a range of props when she visits middle schools in Texas to conduct sex education. These props include a toy baby to symbolize unplanned pregnancy, a snake to represent bacterial infections, a pregnancy test to address infertility, and a skeleton to raise awareness about AIDS and cancer.
The students receive information about the emotional risks of engaging in premarital sex, such as depression, guilt, and anxiety. They are also educated that despite being referred to as a form of “safe sex,” condoms do not provide complete protection against pregnancy or certain sexually transmitted infections that may have long-term consequences.
In her high school curriculum, she states that individuals who frequently change sexual partners might experience a molding and solidification of their brains, ultimately perceiving such a pattern as normal. According to the curriculum, this could potentially hinder the development of the necessary neurological pathways for establishing and maintaining long-term relationships.
Anderson is not employed by the school district. Instead, she is employed by the South Texas Pregnancy Care Center in Seguin. This organization was established in 2001 with the aim of providing counseling services to discourage women from pursuing abortions. It is just one of many crisis pregnancy centers in the state that send representatives to schools to engage with students and, occasionally, conduct sex education classes.
These groups, also known as pregnancy resource centers, began to sprout around the country in the late 1960s as states passed laws legalizing abortion. Sex education has sometimes been a feature of their work. But in Texas, which has among the most crisis pregnancy centers of any state and where state health standards dictate that sex education classes emphasize abstinence, those sex ed efforts are particularly widespread. A Hechinger Report investigation identified more than 35 examples of these centers involved in dozens of school districts across Texas, and the actual number is likely higher.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last summer and the implementation of a near-total abortion ban in Texas, crisis pregnancy centers are anticipated to have a more significant influence in the future. In April, the Texas Legislature granted these organizations a substantial funding increase of $165 million over two years through the Alternatives to Abortion program (recently renamed as Thriving Texas Families), which is more than double the amount allocated in 2019. While this funding supports the overall operations of these groups and does not specifically go towards sex education, it has been directed to at least 14 centers that have been identified as active within schools, as reported by Hechinger.
Despite limited evidence, some centers continue to expand their school-based work, which focuses on providing sex education. Public health experts argue that the methods employed by many of these groups, such as highlighting risks, bombarding students with statistics, and displaying graphic images of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), are ineffective in reducing teen pregnancy or STIs. In fact, these approaches may hinder students from comprehending information that could aid them in making well-informed decisions regarding their sexual health.
Leslie Kantor, Chair of the Department of Urban-Global Public Health at the Rutgers School of Public Health in New Jersey, explained that such an excessive amount of facts leading to fear is commonly observed. She emphasized that it is widely understood, based on numerous health issues, that this approach does not effectively alter human behavior.
The staff at crisis pregnancy centers advocate for the effectiveness of their approach. According to their students, who provide direct feedback or participate in internal surveys, many have experienced a change of heart regarding their decision to engage in sexual activities. The staff also emphasizes that their collaboration with schools originated from their intention to educate young individuals on the prevention of unplanned pregnancies, intervening before the need for their services arises. They firmly believe that abstinence is the most successful method to prevent any associated risks of sexual activity. Additionally, they educate students on cultivating healthy relationships and planning for their future.
“At the beginning of the decision-making process is the optimal time to address unexpected pregnancies,” stated Jennifer Shelton, the executive director of Real Options. This pregnancy resource center in Allen has provided sex education to over a dozen public school districts.
In Texas, sex education typically takes up just a few hours of instruction a year in a handful of grades, and many school districts use outside groups and online providers rather than hiring experts in-house or training their own staff. Sex ed curricula are recommended by councils made up primarily of parents and community members. Many pregnancy center programs, which tend to follow a “sexual risk avoidance” approach that in addition to stressing abstinence also includes discussion of birth control and the signs and symptoms of STIs, are offered for free and align with the Texas state standards requiring that abstinence be promoted as the “preferred choice.”
But some health experts, legislators and students say crisis pregnancy centers, which have been accused of offering women misleading or inaccurate information about abortion risks, have no place in public schools. They view the sex ed courses as a stealth way for the organizations to develop connections to teens so the young people will turn to crisis pregnancy centers if they do become pregnant later.
James Talarico, a former middle school teacher and current state representative, has consistently proposed bills that advocate for the inclusion of medically accurate sex education in all school districts across Texas. Talarico, a Democrat representing north Austin and its neighboring regions, expressed worry regarding the reliance on external organizations with extreme political ideologies for sex education in the state. He believes that if these groups are selectively providing information or prioritizing certain aspects to further their own agenda, it is unacceptable and improper when it concerns the education of our children.
For three years as a student in Lewisville Independent School District, near Dallas, Nimisha Srikanth was taught by staffers of 180 Degrees, the education arm of Real Options.
According to her, during her eighth-grade year, each student in the group was provided with a cup and instructed to transfer water back and forth. The intention of this exercise was to symbolize the potential ease of contracting an STI. Srikanth, who completed high school in 2019, mentioned that her classmates regarded it as a joke and deliberately attempted to magnify the number of “infections.”
Srikanth recalled how a lesson in ninth grade took an unexpected turn when the presenter began promoting abstinence as the ideal choice. A witty remark from someone in the room, “I guess it’s too late for me,” triggered a burst of laughter. From that moment, the teacher struggled to regain the attention of everyone present.
According to Srikanth, the recurring message every year remained unchanged: “Abstain from premarital intimacy, or else dire consequences will follow.” He criticized it as being fear-driven and heavily reliant on personal opinions.
180 Degrees is among the state’s most widespread crisis pregnancy center-affiliated sex ed programs, noting on its website that it has sent presenters to 14 districts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In 2019, Real Options reached 18,329 students “with education presentations about sexual purity,” according to its federal tax filing.
In an emailed statement, Amanda Brim, the Lewisville district’s chief communications officer, said that 180 Degrees was never adopted districtwide, but individual schools could choose to use the program. In 2022, she wrote, Lewisville adopted a new sex ed program to meet updated state standards, which went into effect that year.
Shelton, an instructor at 180 Degrees for an extensive period, emphasized that their program refrains from using fear tactics, despite presenting alarming statistics, and instead prioritizes honesty with students regarding the risks associated with sexual activity. Additionally, the program, according to Shelton, encompasses various subjects beyond abstinence, such as birth control, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and the emotional aspects of sex and relationships.
According to Shelton, regardless of one’s perspective, it is important to acknowledge that abstinence is the most effective decision to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Shelton expressed her belief in setting higher expectations for young individuals, as she believes they have the capability to meet those expectations.
The Hechinger Report acquired the sex ed curriculum of 180 Degrees, among five others, by means of public records requests and examination of school and center websites. Each of the pregnancy center curricula highlights the possible negative consequences of engaging in sexual activities and promotes the idea of abstaining until marriage as a means to eliminate all risks.
Seventh graders in 180 Degrees classes, according to a presentation for parents, are taught that there are 27 different STIs and that, with their various strains, the total number of sexually transmitted diseases nears 1,000. The curriculum used by South Texas Pregnancy Care Center, called SHARE, lists the potential consequences of STIs as pain and suffering, damage to organs, damage to babies, death, embarrassment and rejection.
LifeGuard, the sex ed program affiliated with the crisis pregnancy center The Source, in Austin and Houston, includes a series of graphic photos to give “a medically accurate understanding of how these STIs can impact a person’s health.”
Samuel Ingram, a 2020 graduate of the Leander Independent School District, expressed that the intention behind their actions was merely an attempt to intimidate them. Ingram further conveyed his desire for receiving practical knowledge about practicing safe sex rather than being presented with the alarming depiction of sexually transmitted infections, such as gonorrhea, and the potential lifelong consequences associated with them.
LifeGuard, a program that claims to educate 15,000 students each year, chose not to provide a statement regarding this article. Additionally, their staff advised two school districts against sharing copies of their curriculum in response to a public records request made by Hechinger. In an attempt to be exempted from the records law, they reached out to the attorney general, arguing that disclosing the material would result in competitive disadvantage as it contains trade secrets. However, their request for exemption was ultimately rejected.
In an email, Alicia Westcot, the senior director of math, science, and humanities at Leander, stated that the district utilizes LifeGuard as it aligns with state health standards and offers captivating educational material for students across all grade levels. Additionally, she mentioned that teachers have expressed positive feedback regarding the involvement of content experts in delivering the courses.
At the request of The Hechinger Report, four public health experts examined sections of the crisis pregnancy center curricula. Their evaluation revealed that these programs often neglect to present crucial information that enables students to accurately evaluate the probabilities of different risks. Additionally, they found certain sections to be biased or deceptive, particularly in terms of messaging relating to the effectiveness of contraception.
The SHARE script used by the South Texas Pregnancy Care Center advises educators to inform students that teenagers are not consistent in using condoms due to their underdeveloped brain. Similarly, LifeGuard’s eighth-grade curriculum suggests presenters quickly go through a list of bullet points about proper condom usage, highlighting their quantity, and then ask, “Do you understand the potential difficulties in consistently and correctly using condoms?”
While research on the effectiveness of sex ed is difficult to conduct, major medical organizations recommend comprehensive sex education — which typically discusses the benefits of delaying sexual intercourse along with information on methods for preventing pregnancy and STIs, gender identity and consent. They note that studies suggest such courses are more effective than abstinence-only programs at reducing teen pregnancy rates and increasing condom use if young people do choose to have sex, and that comprehensive sex ed produces other benefits, including improved interpersonal skills.
Many crisis pregnancy centers incorporate elements beyond abstinence in the sexual risk-avoidance approach they adopt. However, health experts argue that these programs’ emphasis on the adverse outcomes of premarital sex closely resembles strict abstinence-only approaches.
Kantor believes that instead of solely providing statistics about the prevalence of STIs, educators should prioritize equipping students with the necessary information and skills to engage in conversations about protection with potential partners.
Kantor expressed the idea that it would be unwise to spend limited time with a young person by providing them with a bunch of irrelevant facts. In today’s age, where information is easily accessible through smartphones, it would be more beneficial to focus on teaching them practical skills rather than sharing useless information.
In 2020, The Open Door, a crisis pregnancy center in Cisco and Breckenridge, tried something new. Its staff brought a mobile ultrasound unit and a volunteer pregnant woman to a school to perform a live ultrasound in front of students.
Currently, the center collaborates with middle and high school students from 15 school districts in central Texas. Their main focus is to offer comprehensive education on sexuality and relationships. Additionally, in certain instances, they enhance their instruction by including live ultrasounds.
“The ability to witness a baby’s movement within the womb makes a significant impact,” stated Shannon Thompson, executive director of The Open Door. “With its own heartbeat, fingers, toes, eyes, and nose, this baby is already shaping its unique personality. The moment they lay eyes on this, their perspective changes. It effectively sows the seed of life within them.”
According to Thompson, the live ultrasounds are a component of a broader initiative to transform the overall mindset, extending beyond their organization’s premises. Instead of passively waiting for clients to seek their help, they actively strive to connect with community members before they engage in potentially harmful actions. Their objective is to empower young individuals to confidently decline risky behavior and simultaneously establish their organization as a trusted refuge for those facing difficulties or unexpected pregnancies.
To that end, The Open Door acquired a curriculum and hired an education liaison to teach sex ed in schools. Staffers have built relationships with school counselors, juvenile departments and camps, and they throw an annual back-to-school bash. This year, they adopted an additional curriculum to reach more grade levels and added a second education liaison to their staff, Thompson said.
Under her leadership, Open Doors’ state funding is rising: In 2022, it received nearly $380,000 via the Alternatives to Abortion program, compared with approximately $102,000 in 2019.
Thompson clarified that her organization does not use fear-based tactics, but instead emphasizes the importance of empowering students to make informed choices and value themselves by choosing to delay sexual activity.
“In April, during a panel discussing her organization’s efforts at the annual meeting of Heartbeat International, a national network of pregnancy resource centers, Thompson emphasized the significance of student education. She stated that it serves as an excellent platform for us to instill, teach, and educate individuals on the pro-life message.”
In addition to promoting clinic visits, sex education programs at various pregnancy centers also adopt talking points aligned with the anti-abortion movement.
For example, within the eighth grade curriculum of LifeGuard, there is a game centered around fetal development. In this game, students are tasked with guessing the occurrence of specific developmental milestones, like the initiation of the heart beating and the commencement of brain functioning. They must determine whether these milestones happen at four, six, or eight weeks.
The LifeGuard programs guide students to The Source, the affiliated clinic, if they require pregnancy tests or STI testing. The curriculum emphasizes that The Source is a reliable resource that offers comprehensive information to assist in making informed choices regarding unexpected pregnancies.
The Source received nearly $1.4 million in Alternatives to Abortion funding in 2022. Yet LifeGuard describes itself to parents and students as an “apolitical” program that doesn’t take a stance on controversial issues. Indeed, none of the crisis pregnancy center school curricula reviewed by The Hechinger Report contained explicit religious or anti-abortion content.
But the groups do emphasize their religious values in other aspects of their operations, sometimes stipulating that job applicants be Christian and hold certain values. A LifeGuard job ad for a curriculum specialist noted that the new hire must have a “strong commitment and dedication to the sanctity of human life and sexual abstinence.” A job posting for an abstinence educator from 180 Degrees listed the top qualification as: “Pro-Life, Christ follower, and believes that the Bible is the inerrant word of God.”
According to Shelton, from 180 Degrees, religion holds significant personal importance, however, the staff refrains from introducing religious discussions or debating the pros and cons of abortion in the classroom. This is done out of respect for the diverse backgrounds of the students. Similarly, Thompson stated that her group presents the “pro-life” message as one of many options, without taking a political stance within educational institutions.
Thompson emphasized during her speech at the Heartbeat International conference the significance of organizations like hers in not alienating young individuals with a religious, anti-abortion message.
Thompson advised, “Keep in mind that if young women who could potentially be your clients witness you openly and proudly advocating for the pro-life cause, they might feel hesitant to approach you. Building a strong rapport and establishing trust with them is crucial for them to feel comfortable enough to confide in you.”
Meanwhile, Talarico argues that organizations cannot rely solely on stating their impartiality in the classroom. According to him, no public school district in Texas has the legal authority to vet educators based on their political views. He finds it deeply troubling that these organizations are selectively choosing individuals who share their radical ideology.
The education program, SHARE, offered by the South Texas Pregnancy Care Center, is assuredly unbiased by the religious beliefs that motivate the group’s work, as confirmed by the center’s representatives.
Anderson, the program’s lead teacher, stated during a presentation to the Yorktown school district’s School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) in spring 2022 that there is an overlap between the message of abstinence from a health perspective and a faith perspective. She further emphasized that this overlap does not diminish the value of abstinence as the most beneficial message to impart to young individuals in terms of their health. Although Anderson declined interview requests, she mentioned in an email that numerous school districts had thoroughly reviewed and approved the SHARE curriculum, confirming its alignment with state health standards.
Anderson is responsible for traveling around central Texas to participate in SHAC meetings. During these meetings, she presents her sex ed program to the members, who are mostly parents from the district. Her goal is to convince them of the benefits of implementing her program. The members of the councils then provide official recommendations to their respective school boards.
Since Anderson’s arrival, the South Texas Pregnancy Care Center’s SHARE program has achieved success. Initially implemented in three schools in 2016, the program has expanded significantly under her leadership. As of the 2021-22 academic year, the teachers associated with the program are now presenting in a total of 10 schools.
Following the Yorktown meeting in 2022, she successfully persuaded the district to adopt SHARE. Moreover, this year, Seguin joined the expanding roster of districts participating in the program.
Anderson has a supplementary position in the school district as she is involved in the SHAC. During the group’s regular meeting in April, she advocated for the endorsement of her SHARE curriculum, highlighting its alignment with the state health standards, which was a rare trait among the curriculum options under review by the council. Shortly after, the council members agreed to narrow down their choices to these two curricula and then, a month later, officially recommended Anderson’s program.
The Hechinger Report identified two cases where a pregnancy center employee, who is also a member of a SHAC, voted in favor of her own course. This action, according to Talarico, presents a “clear conflict of interest.” Talarico intends to discuss this matter with his colleagues to determine if legislative action is necessary.
According to Sean Hoffman, the communications officer for the Seguin district, there is no evidence suggesting that Anderson exerted undue influence on the decision.
He mentioned that school districts and school boards need to depend on the input and feedback from their communities. He acknowledged the challenge of finding sufficient individuals to participate in SHACs and mentioned that the assessment of sex education curricula took over a year to complete. He expressed that when individuals express their willingness to serve, they will be accepted, assuming that their intention is to contribute towards the best interests.
Like many pregnancy resource centers, the South Texas Pregnancy Care Center has been expanding its work in the wake of the fall of Roe. This spring, it started construction on a new building, supported, in part, by donations from Seguin nonprofits and agencies. A construction class at Seguin High School is building the interior walls.
According to Janice Weaver, the executive director of the group, the demand for its services is increasing significantly. The center used to conduct an average of 20 pregnancy tests per month. However, in January 2023, they administered 41 tests. Speaking at a city council meeting in February, Weaver expressed her enthusiasm for a new building, emphasizing the urgent need in Seguin.
The Open Door and other organizations are establishing prenatal care units to establish themselves as a valuable resource for women in need of medical assistance. Open Door, situated in a medical-deprived area, will offer transportation services for expectant mothers to attend prenatal appointments and receive additional support. According to Thompson from Open Door, the ban on abortion in Texas has not altered the situation for women who find themselves pregnant and anxious about their uncertain future. On the contrary, it has only heightened the demand for assistance.
Molly Davis, the president of the Islander Feminists club at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, is currently a senior. She is spearheading a campaign against a crisis pregnancy center that is planning to expand its presence near the campus. Molly is deeply concerned about the increasing influence of such groups in Texas. She believes that their activities in educational institutions align with their broader agenda of persuading individuals, sometimes by spreading misinformation, to continue their pregnancies.
Davis expressed their anger at the fact that crisis pregnancy centers, rather than healthcare professionals, are the ones leading sexual education in the state. Davis personally knows classmates who have been taught by these groups. According to Davis, these centers are exploiting one of the most vulnerable populations, which is young people. They are intentionally teaching them information that will guide them towards certain paths chosen by the centers.
Texas has the ninth-highest teen birth rate of any state, 20.3 births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19. And while teen birthrates have been falling in the U.S. as a whole since 1991, they remain among the highest in the developed world.
Ingram, a student hailing from Leander, remembers that a number of his high school peers ended up getting pregnant.
Ingram, currently a senior at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and a member of the Islander Feminists, expressed his dissatisfaction with the sex education he received, stating, “I believe it was somewhat unfair to us. While their intention may have been to promote abstinence, those who chose not to follow that path were not adequately provided with comprehensive and reliable information.”
On the other hand, Srikanth claims that it was not until she enrolled at Texas A&M University and became a member of the FREE (Feminists for Reproductive Equity And Education) Aggies campus group that she truly gained valuable knowledge.
In the student center, on a Monday morning in May, Srikanth dedicated two hours to distributing complimentary condoms, dental dams, pregnancy tests, and Plan B. She made it a point to create a non-judgmental environment for those who approached the table, recognizing that many of them may have been influenced by long-standing beliefs that sex was immoral and posed health risks.
Her career plans were influenced by her experiences in middle and high school. As of this fall, she has started a master’s program at Yale University and aspires to work in the field of sexual and reproductive health and justice.
Her wish was for others to possess superior knowledge compared to what she had during her own upbringing.
Disclosure: Texas A&M University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
This story about sex education curriculum was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.
Correction, : This story has been updated with correct information on the Alternatives to Abortion program's funding details and rebranded name.