Senate panel kills measure requiring abstinence instruction
Posted: Wednesday, February 15, 2006
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- A proposal that would have required South Dakota schools to emphasize abstinence in sex education courses was rejected Tuesday by a state Senate committee.
HB1217 had passed the House by a wide margin, but the Senate Education Committee voted 6-1 to kill the bill after some senators said it would take away some control by local school districts.
Other opponents also said they believe the bill is flawed because it would prevent schools from including education on contraceptives, information they said some students need to protect themselves against pregnancy and diseases.
Sen. Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, said he agrees that abstinence instruction helps many students, but he said sex education should not exclude information on contraceptives because such instruction can help protect students from sexually transmitted diseases, including potentially fatal AIDS.
"I think not to have contraceptive instruction is a mistake," Knudson said.
But the bill's main sponsor, Rep. Roger Hunt, R-Brandon, said the measure would not forbid all instruction about contraceptives. He said the bill would require that students be told abstinence is the only sure way to avoid pregnancy and sexual disease, and students would have to be told contraceptives are not very effective in preventing some diseases.
Students and their parents want instruction in sexual abstinence, Hunt said.
"They want basically to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. They want to set goals in their lives. They want to receive the benefits of sexual abstinence," Hunt said.
The bill would have applied to school districts that teach sex education courses. Teachers would have been required to tell students that abstaining from sex until marriage is responsible behavior and cuts the risk of disease and pregnancy to zero.
Students also would have had to be taught about the possible emotional and economic consequences of sex outside of marriage. The measure said such instruction could not be based on "risk reduction encouraging, promoting, and providing instruction in the use of contraceptive drugs, devices, or methods."
Other sections of the bill would have required each school district to set up an advisory board, including parents, to help evaluate and select sex education curriculum. Before the school district picked any sex education curriculum, a public hearing would have been required.
Supporters of the bill said it would encourage local control by giving parents in each school district a say in how sex education is taught.
"This bill keeps some control with the parents. It gets them involved," said Sioux Falls lawyer and parent Jeff Clapper.
A number of Sioux Falls students urged the lawmakers to pass the bill. They said they are virgins and believe sex education courses should support their decisions and explain that abstinence is expected.
"It doesn't make sense to give me a condom and say `Go get them, tiger,' " said Daniel Brunz, a senior at Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls.
But two Pierre high school students said many teenagers are sexually active and need balanced information that will help them avoid pregnancy and disease.
"There are kids having sex," said Jenny Badger, a Riggs High School student. "You can't stop everyone."
Badger said the Pierre sex education course does not teach sexual techniques and does not encourage teenagers to have sex.
Robin Carlson, a Pierre mother of three, said she gave her children information about birth control because she did not want them to wind up teenage parents as she did. But she said teachers have better information than she could give her children.
"Abstinence is a wonderful thing, and I wish all kids would choose that as an option, but they're not going to," Carlson said. "I have more fear of my children getting AIDS than having a baby as a teenager."
Steve Sibson of Mitchell, who has a well-known politically conservative Internet site, said he believes the bill would provide more local control to parents. The current system allows the state Board of Education and other officials to set standards that are imposed on local districts, he said.
In addition, state education officials provide local teachers with workshops on how to deal with parents who are upset about sex education, Sibson said.
Sen. Jay Duenwald, R-Hoven, was the only committee member to vote for the bill, saying abstinence education would support other laws that ban sex with children.
Sen. Eric Bogue, R-Faith, said he supports abstinence education and likes the parts of the bill calling for advisory committees and hearings in local school districts. But Bogue said the bill appeared to limit what decisions local school districts could make about how to teach sex education.
"They would be boxed in," Bogue said.
HB1217 had passed the House by a wide margin, but the Senate Education Committee voted 6-1 to kill the bill after some senators said it would take away some control by local school districts.
Other opponents also said they believe the bill is flawed because it would prevent schools from including education on contraceptives, information they said some students need to protect themselves against pregnancy and diseases.
Sen. Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, said he agrees that abstinence instruction helps many students, but he said sex education should not exclude information on contraceptives because such instruction can help protect students from sexually transmitted diseases, including potentially fatal AIDS.
"I think not to have contraceptive instruction is a mistake," Knudson said.
But the bill's main sponsor, Rep. Roger Hunt, R-Brandon, said the measure would not forbid all instruction about contraceptives. He said the bill would require that students be told abstinence is the only sure way to avoid pregnancy and sexual disease, and students would have to be told contraceptives are not very effective in preventing some diseases.
Students and their parents want instruction in sexual abstinence, Hunt said.
"They want basically to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. They want to set goals in their lives. They want to receive the benefits of sexual abstinence," Hunt said.
The bill would have applied to school districts that teach sex education courses. Teachers would have been required to tell students that abstaining from sex until marriage is responsible behavior and cuts the risk of disease and pregnancy to zero.
Students also would have had to be taught about the possible emotional and economic consequences of sex outside of marriage. The measure said such instruction could not be based on "risk reduction encouraging, promoting, and providing instruction in the use of contraceptive drugs, devices, or methods."
Other sections of the bill would have required each school district to set up an advisory board, including parents, to help evaluate and select sex education curriculum. Before the school district picked any sex education curriculum, a public hearing would have been required.
Supporters of the bill said it would encourage local control by giving parents in each school district a say in how sex education is taught.
"This bill keeps some control with the parents. It gets them involved," said Sioux Falls lawyer and parent Jeff Clapper.
A number of Sioux Falls students urged the lawmakers to pass the bill. They said they are virgins and believe sex education courses should support their decisions and explain that abstinence is expected.
"It doesn't make sense to give me a condom and say `Go get them, tiger,' " said Daniel Brunz, a senior at Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls.
But two Pierre high school students said many teenagers are sexually active and need balanced information that will help them avoid pregnancy and disease.
"There are kids having sex," said Jenny Badger, a Riggs High School student. "You can't stop everyone."
Badger said the Pierre sex education course does not teach sexual techniques and does not encourage teenagers to have sex.
Robin Carlson, a Pierre mother of three, said she gave her children information about birth control because she did not want them to wind up teenage parents as she did. But she said teachers have better information than she could give her children.
"Abstinence is a wonderful thing, and I wish all kids would choose that as an option, but they're not going to," Carlson said. "I have more fear of my children getting AIDS than having a baby as a teenager."
Steve Sibson of Mitchell, who has a well-known politically conservative Internet site, said he believes the bill would provide more local control to parents. The current system allows the state Board of Education and other officials to set standards that are imposed on local districts, he said.
In addition, state education officials provide local teachers with workshops on how to deal with parents who are upset about sex education, Sibson said.
Sen. Jay Duenwald, R-Hoven, was the only committee member to vote for the bill, saying abstinence education would support other laws that ban sex with children.
Sen. Eric Bogue, R-Faith, said he supports abstinence education and likes the parts of the bill calling for advisory committees and hearings in local school districts. But Bogue said the bill appeared to limit what decisions local school districts could make about how to teach sex education.
"They would be boxed in," Bogue said.
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