Religious and political narratives in the disputes for sex education in Argentina

Sex education, along with free distribution of contraceptives and the pill 'day after', gay marriage, self-determination of sexual identity, euthanasia and decriminalization of abortion, integrate a 'sensitive cores' that crystallize bids and negotiations between the State, political leaders and religious institutions. They compete for defining the public policy on those topics. The paper focuses on semantic disputes between the Ministry of Education of Argentina and the Episcopal Conference, once approved the National Law of Sex Education in 2006. The content analysis of the main publications on sex education reported by both institutions, will identify the elements of continuity and rupture among the political and religious discursive frames. The proposed approach enables a privileged entrance to understand the current mechanisms activated in the definition of certain public policy and legislation, looking at the strategies of influence of religious institutions in the design and implementation of them, as well as the responsiveness of politicians to religious requests.