Candidates' positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found.
Candidates who have changed their positions are listed as Now their most recent position.
(Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by party; black & white photos indicate candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria.)
Chuck Baldwin, Founder and Minister of the Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL, issued the following statement through his Communications Director, Mary Starrett, in an Aug. 18, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
"There should be zero sex education in government schools." Aug. 18, 2008 Chuck Baldwin
Bob Barr, former US House Representative (R-GA), stated in an Oct. 24, 2007 article titled "SAT Doesn't Stand for Sex Aptitude" on his official candidate website:
"The decision last week by a school in Portland, Maine, to provide students as young as 11 years old with the most invasive types of birth control, including pills, patches and even implants, has rekindled the debate over 'sex education' in public schools. The good news is that this debate has been turned up a notch or two by publicity surrounding Portland's decision...
What is particularly distressing about the Portland, Maine controversy is not so much that it is taking place at all, but that it is occurring even as those very same public school systems fixated on providing their young charges with birth control options, are failing miserably to provide students an adequate basic education in subjects that really do belong in schools...
Georgia public schools — while thankfully not yet doling out birth control pills and implants to 11-year old girls as in Maine — spend considerable time and taxpayer money meddling in these same areas, even as the state founders near the bottom of objective national education rankings. The Maine school scandal ought to serve as a clarion call to pay more attention to whether our kids can read, write and compute, and less to whether they know how to use a condom or pop a pill. After all, if they can't read the warning labels on a dispenser of birth control pills, do we really want them taking the pills?" Oct. 24, 2007 Bob Barr
John McCain, US Senator (R-AZ), stated at in a Mar. 16, 2007 New York Times article titled "McCain Stumbles on H.I.V. Prevention":
"Q: What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush's policy, which is just abstinence?
Mr. McCain: (Long pause) Ahhh. I think I support the president's policy." Mar. 16, 2007 John McCain
Cynthia McKinney, former US House Representative (D-GA), issued the following statement through her Press Secretary, John Judge, in a Sep. 16, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
"Teaching human sexuality is a parental and school responsibility. Young people should be provided with education regarding their own and others' sexuality at the earliest appropriate time. This includes age-appropriate education about AIDS/HIV, appropriate methods of prevention, and the distribution of condoms in schools. Parental responsibility should be encouraged by supporting parenting, as more families confront economic conditions that demand more time be spent away from home." Sep. 16, 2008 Cynthia McKinney
Ralph Nader, attorney, author, and political activist, issued the following statement through his Communications Director and Policy Writer, Loralynne Krobetzky, in an Oct. 20, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
Barack Obama, US Senator (D-IL), stated in an Apr. 20, 2008 article titled "Encore: Democratic Candidates Compassion Forum" on CNN.com:
"...[W]hat I have consistently talked about is to take a comprehensive approach where we focus on abstinence, where we are teaching the sacredness of sexuality to our children.
But we also recognize the importance of good medical care for women, that we're also recognizing the importance of age-appropriate education to reduce risks. I do believe that contraception has to be part of that education process." Apr. 20, 2008 Barack Obama
INACTIVE CANDIDATES
(Candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria appear
below in black and white and in alphabetical order by party.)