California Governor Gavin Newsom on Sunday vetoed legislation that would have given teens who attended public high school access to free condoms and bans

sells

prevent retailers from selling them to young people.

Newsom said that while he agreed that providing condoms is “important for supporting better adolescent sexual health,” the bill would have created an unfunded program that was not included in the state’s annual budget .

“As our state faces continued economic risks and revenue uncertainty, it is important to remain disciplined when considering bills with significant fiscal implications, such as this measure,” Newsom said in his veto statement.

The governor and state Legislature were forced to address a $30 billion deficit this year to avoid cuts to vital state programs. Still, Newsom said, the state legislature passed a series of bills outside

by

This budget process, if it were all implemented, would result in nearly $19 billion in unaccounted costs.

Senate Bill 541, authored by Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-Panorama City), would have required all public schools to make condoms easily accessible to all students in an effort to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and reduce the number of teen pregnancies to push. As part of the law, retailers would be prohibited from asking for proof of age or identification when minors purchase condoms or over-the-counter contraception.

If barriers remain, low-income youth often have no option to regularly use condoms to protect their health and prevent unintended pregnancy, according to the nonprofit California School-Based Health Alliance, a supporter of the bill. There are also risks of young people passing on unwanted sexually transmitted diseases, according to the bill’s analysis, which cited that

five

Five in 10 cases of chlamydia in California are in young people, disproportionately affecting people of color.

The bill raised some concerns among conservative groups, including the California Policy Council, which argued that handing out free condoms perpetuates a hook-up culture in which sex is meaningless and done for fun with multiple partners.

Sex education in California schools has long stirred controversy, especially in 2016 when lawmakers passed the California Healthy Youth Act, creating comprehensive sex education and HIV prevention.

The updated curriculum was intended by the board to be comprehensive and include the use of gender-inclusive language, as well as educational materials on sex trafficking, HIV prevention, nutrition, alcohol and skin care.

Menjivar said that by requiring free condoms in all California high schools, we are giving youth who decide to become sexually active the opportunity to protect themselves and their partners from

[sexually transmitted infections]

while also removing barriers that may shame them and lead to unsafe sex.”

Meanwhile, states in the US have their own guidelines and approaches to sex education.

According to a National Institutes of Health study, only half of adolescents receive a school lesson about contraception before having sex for the first time. Only twenty states require information about condoms or contraception.

According to a 2018 report on teen pregnancy prevention, 27 states have curricula that emphasize abstinence, and 18 states require classes that encourage students to engage in sexual activity only if they are married.