Romney Criticizes Obama For Support Of Sex Education For All Grades

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, on Thursday criticized Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, for supporting a 2003 measure in the Illinois Legislature that would have allowed age-appropriate sex education for children as young as kindergartners, the AP/ABC News reports. Obama in 2003 was a state senator and chair of a committee that approved a bill that would have changed Illinois sex education regulations to include instruction of any grade.

Obama on Tuesday at a Planned Parenthood Action Fund forum said that he considers sex education for kindergartners appropriate if it is tailored to their age level. He has said that if a kindergartner asks a question such as where babies come from, they should be told accurate information. Obama also said warning young people about inappropriate touching is an example of the type of sex education he supports, adding that he was criticized for his position on sex education during his 2004 U.S. Senate campaign as well.

"Sen. Obama is wrong if he thinks science-based sex education has any place in kindergarten," Romney said Thursday during a speech in Sparatansburg, S.C. Romney on Wednesday at a fundraising dinner in Colorado Springs, Colo., said, "How much sex education is appropriate for a five-year-old? In my mind, zero is the right number."

Obama on Thursday said, "We have to deal with a coarsening of the culture and the over-sexualization of our young people," adding, "Of course, part of the coarsening of that culture is when politicians try to demagogue issues to score cheap political points" (Davenport, AP/ABC News, 6/19).

Romney, Fred Thompson Vie for Social Conservative Support
The Los Angeles Times on Friday examined a recent "clash" between Romney and former Sen. Fred Thompson (Tenn.), who is expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, over support of social conservatives. According to the Times, neither candidate is a "sure bet" with social conservatives, particularly because of abortion issues. Both Romney and Thompson have said they oppose abortion rights, but both candidates also have "mixed" records on the issue, the Times reports (Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 7/20).


ABC News video of Romney's and Obama's remarks and expanded ABC News coverage are available online (ABC News, 7/19).

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