Wasserman Schultz Leads Florida Congressional Democrats in Demanding DeSantis Rescind Abstinence-Only Directives

Washington, D.C. -Today, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) announced she had led seven Democratic Members of the Florida congressional delegation in a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis and state Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. demanding that the administration rescind directives requiring Florida public schools to solely teach abstinence-only sexual education. These orders instructed schools to remove core topics that are proven to be effective in keeping students safe, such as contraception, consent, and reproductive anatomy.

The letter, delivered yesterday, was also signed by Representatives Kathy Castor (FL-14), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Darren Soto (FL-9), and Frederica Wilson (FL-24).

Many schools currently offer medically accurate, comprehensive sexual education for their students. But the DeSantis Department of Education is using the law to require schools to get approval on their curriculum from the state to force abstinence-only programs on all Florida public schools and students. Abstinence-only programs have been consistently proven ineffective, damaging to students' health, and discriminatory against the LGBTQ+ community.

"Contrary to your claims, this law does not give parents more rights regarding their child's education. Instead, it takes power from local educators and parents to decide the best educational materials for their students, and instead hands it to Tallahassee political appointees averse to science, facts, or public health data," the Members wrote. "We therefore demand that your Administration and DOE rescind these harmful directives issued to our school districts that go way beyond state law and ensure local educators can teach the comprehensive sexual education curricula that parents want, and healthy students need."

The full letter can be found here.