The Fight for Health Education: Why Your Access to Critical Information Is at Risk
We need to talk—your access to health education is in jeopardy.
The speed of what’s unfolded in the U.S. over the past 10 days has been staggering, even if the events themselves weren’t surprising to many of us.
Earlier this week, I shared the sobering reality of health education access in this country.
Only 26 states require health education content be medically accurate. 42 states + DC mandate abstinence-only focused programs.
Let’s be honest—these numbers are going to get worse, and those who need this education most will likely face the greatest barriers to accessing it.
I’ve always emphasized that health education goes far beyond body parts and barrier methods. It’s a commitment to social and racial justice.
The uncertain future of our presence on these platforms and the broader concerns about censorship keep me up at night. As someone dedicated to this field, I worry about ability to continue providing critical support to those who rely on us and our content.
I am actively working on building offline community resources and education spaces—because this work needs to continue, platforms or not.
If you value this work, NOW (and I cannot stress this enough), is the time to connect directly with your trusted health educators and professionals through their email lists and other platforms.
I typically shy away from promotional-sounding posts, but this isn’t about marketing—it’s about preserving access to life-saving education and support.
I will not go off these platforms without a fight, but here are the places you can find me:
▪️Website + Database: I archive all static posts from my Instagram and have any writing or media (I have all of these articles saved as PDFs, too)
▪️Newsletter (Substack): I post Wednesday (FREE) and Sunday (paid) for subscribers. Everything dating, health news, STIs, and more.
▪️Email: 💌 emily@emilydepasse.com (I am working through replies this week, thank you for your patience)
▪️Bluesky (see last slide)
▪️TikTok (for now): emilydepasse