What you need to know about Ohio Politics and Policy
Terra Goodnight · April 16, 2013
Today, Republicans on the Ohio House Finance Committee voted to adopt changes to the two-year state budget that will significantly restrict the teaching of sexual education in the state, mandating an abstinence-only approach. According to a provided by the Committee Chairman, Representative Ron Amstutz, the measure would:
prohibit the teaching of sexual education coursework that endorses non-abstinence as an acceptable behavior or promotes sexual gateway activity.What’s sexual gateway activity? The summary included with the amendment (full text) defines it as sexual contact with erogenous zones, as defined in Ohio’s criminal statutes as follows:
ORC 2907.01(B) “Sexual contact” means any touching of an erogenous zone of another, including without limitation the thigh, genitals, buttock, pubic region, or, if the person is a female, a breast, for the purpose of sexually arousing or gratifying either person.