Thursday, October 9, 2008

Obama Sex Ed Bill


By now, you have probably seen the Obama sex ed ad on television. This too has peaked my interest as I wanted to see how Wisconsin's sex ed statute compares to our neighbor's bill to the south. Below is a copy of the proposed Illinois Sex Ed bill from the 1993 session as well as my observations.

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=3&GA=93&DocTypeId=SB&DocNum=99&GAID=3&LegID=734&SpecSess=&Session=


Observations:
1. Kids are automatically opted-in to the sex ed classes unless parents submit a written statement. This often happens in Wisconsin so active parenting is needed in this regard.
2. This bill would expand the Illinois law which originally applied to grades 6-12 to instead include grades Kindergarten- 12th grade.
3. Wording about the fact that abstinence is the best option was removed from the current law. This statement was struck. - "Abstinence is the expected norm in that abstinence from sexual intercourse is the only protection that is 100% effective against unwanted teenage" pregnancy.
4. The Illinois bill referenced the benefits of marriage 5 times. EVERY reference to marriage as an option was deleted under 1993 Senate Bill 99.
5. Sexually transmitted "disease" was replaced with Sexually transmitted "infection." If you don't know the politics of "disease" vs. "infection," please let me know. (While I am at it, if you don't know the difference between "abstinence- only" vs. "abstinence- based" instruction, let me know. There is a day and night difference between the two terms.)
6. A Values-Free Clause was added - "Course material and instruction shall be free of racial, ethnic, gender, religious, or sexual orientation biases."
7. "All options" counseling was added (which means abortion is discussed as an option) while "the alternatives to abortion" language was struck.
8. The definitions section is most interesting.

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