Health Under Siege—Sex Ed Erosion in Florida and Beyond

You can watch the full recording of this webinar on YouTube here.

Public school health education—particularly sex education—is under sustained attack across the United States, with Florida serving as one of the most influential and instructive battlegrounds. Policies that restrict or distort sex education are increasingly justified through religious or ideological claims, raising serious First Amendment concerns and undermining both religious freedom and students’ access to medically accurate, inclusive health information. Join us to learn more here.

Presented by the Florida initiative of Jews for a Secular Democracy with generous support from the Eula Mae & John Baugh Foundation, this timely webinar examines the erosion of sex education in Florida as a case study in a broader national trend. Through a public health, legal, and constitutional lens, participants will explore how state statutes, education policy, and organized advocacy efforts have reshaped what young people are taught in public schools—and what those changes mean for student health outcomes, educational equity, and religious freedom nationwide.

Moderated by Laura Rodriguez, Florida Organizer for Jews for a Secular Democracy, the panel brings together leading voices at the intersection of public health, education, and policy, including Takeata King Pang, Executive Director of the Women’s Foundation of Florida and co-founder of the Florida Healthy Youth Alliance; Pascale Alcindor, sexual health and curriculum expert and FHYA co-founder; Dr. Amy Weiss, a pediatrician; and, Jaclyn Friedman, Founder and Executive Director of EducateUs. 

The conversation will trace the evolution of sex education policy in Florida from 2015 to 2025, including the formation of the Florida Healthy Youth Alliance in 2021, and examine the statutes that currently govern what students are—and are not—allowed to learn. Panelists will connect these policies to measurable health outcomes for young people and place Florida’s experience in the context of similar efforts unfolding in states across the country.

Participants will leave with:

• A clear understanding of how sex education policy has shifted in Florida over the past decade
• Insight into how religious ideology has entered public school health education, raising First Amendment concerns
• An evidence-based assessment of how restrictive sex education policies impact youth health and wellbeing
• A deeper understanding of why Florida’s experience matters nationally
• Concrete strategies for effectively advocating for comprehensive, medically accurate sex education in Florida and beyond

By grounding advocacy in public health evidence, constitutional principles, and lived experience, this program equips participants to better understand what is at stake—and how to take action. What is happening in Florida is not an outlier; it is a warning. The future of health education, religious freedom, and public education itself depends on how communities respond.

Presented by the Florida initiative of Jews for a Secular Democracy with generous support from the Eula Mae & John Baugh Foundation.