SB 918 amends Oregon’s school health education law to require that human sexuality education include information about human development from conception to birth. The bill keeps the existing framework for age-appropriate, medically accurate, comprehensive instruction, including topics such as pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted infections, abstinence, contraception, healthy relationships, consent, and family communication, while adding prenatal development as a required subject area.
The measure also preserves current requirements that sexuality education stress abstinence as the only 100 percent effective method to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, but not to the exclusion of other contraceptive and infection-reduction information. It continues to require instruction on Oregon laws related to childbearing, parenting, and unlawful sexual conduct involving minors, and it applies the changes beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.
Impact
SB 918 would amend ORS 336.455, Oregon’s statute governing human sexuality education in public elementary and secondary schools. The practical effect is to expand the required curriculum for school districts by adding human development from conception to birth as a mandated topic in health education, while leaving the rest of the statutory structure largely intact. School districts would need to update course materials and instruction to comply by the 2026-2027 school year.
Sentiment
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate, support, or opposition in the available record. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears to reflect a policy preference for expanding instruction on prenatal development within an existing sexuality education framework. The absence of voting history or hearing testimony makes it difficult to assess broader legislative sentiment.
Contention
The main point of potential contention is the addition of instruction about human development from conception to birth, which may be viewed by supporters as a way to broaden health education and by opponents as introducing a more ideologically charged or pregnancy-centered framing into sexuality education. Another likely area of debate is the bill’s continued emphasis on abstinence alongside comprehensive sexual health instruction, a longstanding point of disagreement in sex education policy. No specific objections or endorsements are documented in the provided materials.