For the second year in a row, Ohio's sex education policy has earned an "F" on a report card from SIECUS, a national group that advocates for comprehensive, medically accurate and inclusive sex ed. SIECUS is short for the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States.
Ohio got a "D" on its sex ed requirement and an "F" on its sex ed content requirement, according to Ohio Capital Journal. Nine other states also got an "F," and six earned an "A."
"What young people are allowed to learn about their bodies is increasingly being determined by politics — not by what they need to be healthy and safe," SIECUS Executive Director Callie Simon said in a statement.
As Ohio Capital Journal describes it, Ohio's curriculum stresses abstinence and requires some instruction about sexually transmitted infections. Schools must "emphasize adoption as an option to unintended pregnancies" and "teach the potential physical, psychological, emotional, and social side effects" of sex outside of marriage, per the Ohio Revised Code.
Because Ohio doesn't mandate comprehensive sex ed, each school district decides how to teach it. The state audits districts every year for compliance. In the 2024-25 audit, all but two districts were found compliant.
Kellie Copeland, executive director of Abortion Forward, which advocates for abortion rights, told Ohio Capital Journal the goal should be helping students prepare to make decisions about their bodies and lives, and that Ohio's curriculum doesn't do that.
Jes Fuller, director of the Ohio Center for Sex Education, the education arm of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, said comprehensive curricula cover communication, healthy relationships and consent alongside STIs, birth control and pregnancy prevention. "We want to give information to young people before it becomes incredibly useful because they can have that information for the future," Fuller said.
Not everyone sees the grade as a problem. According to Heartlander News, which carried a Daily Signal report, Aaron Baer of the Center for Christian Virtue called Ohio's "F" a "badge of honor." John Stover of Ohio Value Voters said he was disappointed Ohio didn't score lower. SIECUS did not respond to the Daily Signal's request for comment.
Ohio's teen birth rate was 14.0 per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19 in 2024, compared with 12.6 nationally, according to CDC data cited by Ohio Capital Journal.
Two more measures are in the pipeline. A law taking effect Oct. 6 will require schools to teach the "success sequence": graduating high school, getting a job and getting married, in that order, before having a baby. House Bill 485, the "Enact Baby Olivia Act," passed the Ohio House 59-27, per an Ohio House press release, and would require schools to show a video about early human development in the womb.
Lawmakers are on break until after the November election. Any bill that doesn't pass before the General Assembly's two-year term ends in December would have to be reintroduced.