California Governor Rejects Bill to Provide Free Condoms to High Schoolers
Medically reviewed by Drugs.com.
By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Oct. 9, 2023 -- A California bill would have made free condoms available for high schoolers, but it was vetoed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom because of cost.
California has a budget deficit of $30 billion, Newsom noted in his veto of Senate Bill 541. This bill, plus several other measures lawmakers passed, would have increased state budget costs by $19 billion.
“This bill would create an unfunded mandate to public schools that should be considered in the annual budget process,” the Democratic governor wrote.
If the bill had been allowed to go through, it would have required public schools with grades 9 through 12 to make condoms available and free for all students. Those with grades 7 through 12 would have been required to allow condoms to be available as part of educational or public health programs.
The state has 1.9 million high school students in more than 4,000 schools, the Associated Press reported. Under the bill, retailers would also have not been allowed to refuse to sell condoms to youth.
The bill would have helped “youth who decide to become sexually active to protect themselves and their partners from [sexually transmitted infections], while also removing barriers that potentially shame them and lead to unsafe sex,” said the bill’s author, State Sen. Caroline Menjivar, a Democrat from Los Angeles, the AP reported.
Newsom said programs that increase access to condoms are “important to supporting improved adolescent sexual health.”
Still, “with our state facing continuing economic risk and revenue uncertainty, it is important to remain disciplined when considering bills with significant fiscal implications, such as this measure,” Newsom added.
The California state Legislature, which has a Democratic majority, passed hundreds of bills before adjourning last month, the AP reported.
Other health bills Newsom vetoed were those that limited the price of insulin, banned caste-based discrimination and decriminalized possession and use of some hallucinogens, the AP reported.
Sources
- Associated Press
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted October 2023
Read this next
Not 'Out of Your League': Folks Tend to Marry People as Attractive as They Are
MONDAY, July 1, 2024 -- People largely date and marry people in their own “league,” as far as beauty is concerned, a new review finds. Men and women are fairly...
Ignorance Could Be Fueling Rising Spread of STDs, Poll Finds
THURSDAY, June 27, 2024 -- Many sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in the United States, and a nationwide poll indicates that ignorance about how they're transmitted...
States With Abortion Bans Also Saw Declines in Birth Control Post-Dobbs
WEDNESDAY, June 26, 2024 -- Post-Dobbs bans and restrictions on abortion are having a spillover effect in reducing the use of birth control and emergency contraception in those...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.
