AHWG Supports CA SB 541 – The Youth Health Equity + Safety Act

As a nonprofit organization based in California, AHWG strongly supports SB 541 (Menjivar) – The Youth Health Equity + Safety Act. SB 541 seeks to address the sexually transmitted infection (STI) epidemic among California youth and improve equitable public health outcomes statewide by expanding teen access to condoms and the HPV vaccine.

If you are interested in supporting SB 541, you can sign up for email updates here.

It’s a campaign list for YHES to Condoms Campaign, led by Black Women for Wellness Action, Essential Access Health, GENup, and URGE CA.

Read about the Youth Health Equity + Safety (YHES) Act on Essential Access’s website.
You can read more about this bill in a recent Los Angeles Times article.

Condoms are an effective tool to reduce STI transmission, but condom use among sexually active teens has declined over the last decade. The CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) shows that in 2019, an average of 20% of California high school students were sexually active and 47% of those students did not use condoms during their last sexual intercourse. Teens have long reported facing multiple barriers to accessing condoms that deter them from seeking and securing the resources they need to protect themselves against STIs and unintended pregnancy. When barriers remain, youth with low-incomes are often left without the option to regularly utilize condoms to help protect their health and prevent an unintended pregnancy from occurring.