RICHMOND, Va. — A bill to end a teen sex help text line is now in the Virginia house.
Republican Senator Mark Peake sponsored the bill to prohibit the health department or anyone contracted by the health department to initiate a discussion with minors on health-related matters without the consent of the parent.
This comes after these flyers started showing up in mailboxes this summer. The flyer, coming from the Virginia Department of Health, depicted cartoons of teenagers using their phones. It told teens to text a number to get answers about relationships, contraception, sex, pregnancy, STDs, sexuality, and more.
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VDH said the purpose of the program was to provide an option for teens who were uncomfortable asking sexual health questions to their friends or family.
Senator Peake believes this is a parents’ rights bill
“These are third party groups. The state’s not hiring these people. The state is not vetting these people. We don’t know who these people are contacting our kids about highly sensitive sexual matters,” Peake said.
The bill, passed 20-19 on Wednesday in the senate with two Democrats voting in favor of the bill. It’s now in the House of Delegates for its consideration.
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According to the VDH website, the BrdsNBz “TALK2MEVA” sexual health text line for teens is no longer in operation.
The website says, “Upon evaluating the usage numbers of this pilot project, the Virginia Department of Health has determined that this approach was not a cost-effective method to provide young people with sexual health information”.