(Photo by William B. Plowman/Getty Images)
A bill that would require public secondary schools and post-secondary educational institutions to provide free condoms for students passed its first committee Wednesday.
House Bill 517, sponsored by Rep. Pamelya Herndon (D-Albuquerque) and Sen. Martin Hickey (D-Albuquerque), would require school administrators — in consultation with school nurses or school health centers — to determine the best manner through which to distribute the condoms. Per the bill, the condoms would have to be placed in safe and accessible locations, including restrooms.
The bill passed the House Health & Human Services Committee on a party-line 5-3 vote.
Three seniors from Eldorado High School in Albuquerque, who said they proposed the bill to Hickey in September 2024 as part of a class project, spoke as expert witnesses at the hearing.
Senior Emma Travis said that the students have seen firsthand the impact of unsafe sex on their peers’ education, safety and overall well-being.
“Being high school students, we are in a high school setting, so we know that people are having sex, but it remains taboo,” senior Adeline Arenas said.
About 14% of sexually active New Mexico high school students in 2021 did not use contraception the previous time they had sexual intercourse, according to the most recent data from the Youth Risk Resiliency Survey.
Several students from both Santa Fe High School and the University of New Mexico, spoke in favor of the bill during public comment, as did Alexandria Taylor, the executive director of the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs.
Elaine Sena Cortez (R-Hobbs) questioned whether students were already able to access condoms at nurse’s stations or student health centers.
“As we are aware, students are not able to access condoms at these places within schools, and if they are, if that is occurring, they have to go through asking these officials, and we believe that that creates a barrier to access,” Travis responded.
Sena Cortez questioned how the bill, which does not have an appropriation, would be funded. Minority Whip Alan Martinez (R-Rio Rancho) and Nicole Chavez (R-Albuquerque) also raised concerns about funding.
Herndon said schools, within their safety plans or cash reserves, had enough money for the program. The bill’s Fiscal Impact Report notes that public high schools that participate in Medicaid School-Based Programs could use funding from those programs to purchase condoms.
Martinez cited funding concerns as the reason he voted against the bill, saying he worried public schools would be unable to afford the costs.
“As young women living in a post-Dobbs world, we want our peers to have tools to protect their bodily autonomy,” Travis said at the hearing.
The bill now heads to the House Education Committee.