Wisconsin State Capitol

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UPDATE: View the November 16, 2011 Assembly Committee on Education hearing HERE.

UPDATE: Notice has just gone out on November 9, 2011, that the Assembly Committee on Education will be hearing testimony on SB 237 on November 16, 2011. In the Assembly, the bill will be called  Assembly Bill 337, AB 337) .  It is not yet clear when the Assembly will be voting on this sex ed bill which was passed by the Senate.

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SB 237 Passed in the Senate

Wisconsin’s Senate Bill 237 (SB 237), the Strong Communities and Healthy Kids Act, was passed by Wisconsin’s Senate on Wednesday, Oct 26, 2011.
The bill was passed by a narrow margin, with 17 Republicans voting for SB 237 and 16 Democrats voting against.

The purpose of the bill was to reverse the very liberal “Healthy Youth Act” passed in 2010, which required a uniform sex ed program across all of Wisconsin (designed by Planned Parenthood) which underplayed abstinence and required the teaching graphic of sexual material to young children.
SB 237 still allows liberal communities to continue teaching the permissive and graphic material, but no longer requires ALL Wisconsin communities to teach this material.  Under SB 237, each community is permitted to create its own standards, but must teach that abstinence is the only completely reliable preventative for STDs and pregnancy.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) cites abstinence as the only completely reliable preventative for STDs and for pregnancy.

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What do Americans and Wisconsinites want?

In the U.S., 26 States have CONSERVATIVE sex ed laws, similar to SB 237, requiring that abstinence be taught in sex ed programs as the favored means of avoiding pregnancy and STDs.  Conversely, 13 States have LIBERAL sex ed laws, similar to last year’s HYA in Wisconsin, which require the graphic teaching of “barrier methods,” such as condom demonstration, in the classroom.  Opponents of the liberal Healthy Youth Act call it the “Un-Healthy Youth Act,” or the “Promoting Promiscuity Act,” because it does not permit emphasizing that abstinence from sexual activity before marriage is the only reliable way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.  Under HYA, stating the superiority of abstinence would constitute showing bias against sexually active students.

• So two thirds of States with sex ed laws have conservative laws.
• Two thirds of American parents and teens favor abstinence before marriage, according to a U.S. Health and Human Services study released by the Obama administration in 2010.
• Wisconsin, previously more liberal, shifted to a Republican majority in the last election, November, 2010. Recent recall efforts by Democrats failed to upset that conservative majority; hence the creation of SB 237, reflecting more conservative attitudes.  The liberals who have enjoyed a majority in Wisconsin for many years, are very indignant about the shift in power, as evidenced by the March 2011 demonstrations at the Madison Capitol over government employee union privileges, which made national news.

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What is medically or scientifically more accurate?

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Liberals arguing in opposition to Senate Bill 237 claim that abstinence is archaic and unreliable, and that SB 237 withholds medically accurate information from children (does not require detailed teaching of “barrier methods”).  They claim that only the liberal position is “medically accurate,” and that the conservative position reflects a fear of discussing sex and/or a forcing of religious values and ignorance on all children. Liberals claim that sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and pregnancy rates are rising in epidemic proportions among teens as young as 11 years old, and that education must be provided to children to stem this escalating problem.

Conservatives believe that the old 2010 HYA withholds medically accurate information from children by encouraging them to engage in risky sexual behavior, and failing to inform them adequately of the medical dangers of promiscuous behavior, and of the benefits of a stable married life.  Conservatives quote medical and scientific statistics and studies indicating that early sexual activity among children is medically and psychologically risky, and should not be encouraged.  They quote  Wisconsin Department of Health Services statistics that show that STD and pregnancy rates have not changed much in Wisconsin in the past 15 years, and that different cities/towns and communities have different rates of STD and pregnancy.  The average rate of STDs for all of Wisconsin’s teens, (“teens” includes 18 and 19 year olds and half of college students) is 2.3%, while the pregnancy rate is  3.9%(some teens are married).  Milwaukee has significantly elevated rates of STDs and pregnancy compared with the rest of Wisconsin.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) cites abstinence as the only completely reliable preventative for STDs and for pregnancy.

Wisconsin Assembly

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What comes next?

We wait until January 2012.

In order to become law, SB 237 must be passed by the Wisconsin Assembly, which will meet again in January of 2012.
The Wisconsin Assembly membership is comprised of 59 Republicans, 38 Democrats and 1 Independent.

UPDATE: Notice has just gone out on November 9, 2011, that the Assembly Committee on Education will be hearing testimony on SB 237 on November 16, 2011. In the Assembly, the bill will be called  Assembly Bill 337, AB 337) .  It is not yet clear when the Assembly will be voting on this sex ed bill which was passed by the Senate.

UPDATE: View the November 16, 2011 Assembly Committee on Education hearing HERE.