Legislation introduced that would keep abortion providers out of sex-ed classes
By Brian Koonce
Staff Writer
March 7, 2006
JEFFERSON CITY – A bill under consideration by the Missouri House of Representatives would, if passed, keep abortion providers from teaching sex education classes and require teachers to refer students to their doctors for information about contraception.
Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O’Fallon, is sponsoring House Bill 1075 which would change current state law that outlines the minimum curriculum a sex education class must cover. Because the state does not require sex education classes, the rules apply only if a district chooses to offer them.
Current statutes require teachers to “present students with the latest medically factual information” on risks and benefits of contraception. Instead, the new bill requires teachers to inform students that the information is available from their doctor.
“HB 1075 still allows the public school teachers to teach anything else that they desire to add to the class,” Davis said in a recent hearing. “Those who are trying to thwart the passage of this bill are trying to spread misinformation about how this will stop teachers from adding more to the curriculum. Teachers can teach whatever their school districts ask them to teach.”
Kerry Messer, lobbyist for the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) Christian Life Commission, said the referral to a doctor is a step in the right direction.
“This is about education, not healthcare,” he said. “We should not as a state try to provide healthcare in a group setting. This simply points people to their healthcare professional for healthcare-related issues.”
It would also prohibit schools and teachers from encouraging abortions and bans providers of abortions from offering, sponsoring or furnishing any course material or instruction relating to human sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases.
“When abortion providers are teaching the class, there is a natural conflict of interest due to the fact that they make money from teen sex,” Davis said. “Since all forms of contraception have a failure rate, the more students who are sexually active, the more business they get. Abortion providers create a self-fulfilling prophecy and develop relationships with the students that create a greater likelihood that the students will come to their facility when they find that they need an abortion, more contraceptives or treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. Do we need this downward spiral in our classrooms?”
Although it’s not clear when the bill will make it to a vote of the General Assembly, Messer said this portion of the bill should cause Missouri Baptists to eagerly support HB1075.
“It gets abortion providers out of the sex education business,” he said, “and that’s something that should cause every Christian in this state to get on their knees and pray for the success of this legislation.”