This Session, the Legislature passed House Bill 1313 to require schools to subject children to anti-abortion propaganda about fetuses. HB 1313 forbade schools from giving kids information from any organization that “performs abortions, promotes abortion,” or has any connection with any abortion provider or advocate, meaning schools can’t get their information from hospitals or most medical professionals. And they absolutely cannot offer their students my friendly reminder that fetuses have no rights and that all rights related to pregnancy accrue to the mother.
The state Board of Education Standards has thus endorsed two choices for schools to propagandize their students into fetus-worship:
- a 42-minute video that costs $15 plus $29 shipping from the Endowment for Human Development, a group that professes “neutrality regarding all controversial bioethical issues” but has received the National Right to Life org’s full-throated endorsement; or
- two 3-minute videos, available free and online, one from Britannica.com and one from deceitfully indoctrinating anti-abortion crusaders Live Action.
42 minutes versus 6 minutes, $44 versus free… I think we know which option schools will choose to satisfy this latest big-government mandate.
And hey, teachers, if you choose the two short videos, you’ll have time left over to correct the propaganda and remind the girls in your class that their bodies are their own, regardless of what their oppressive government tells them. Or maybe just read passages from The Handmaid’s Tale.
It’s all related: a medical industry oligopoly, gender dysphoria, polluted waterways, subsidized agriculture, absence of medical insurance, cancer and an Earth hating legislature on the dole. But, applaud the nutball Republican efforts diverting attention from the party’s culture of corruption where murders and their covers up are commonplace by clogging the legislative session with christianic religionist argle-bargle.
Actually, since this is a medical issue, school nurses and health science teachers should handle this. There should be equal time given to “all sides.” Here is where teachers can be creative. Open it up to community input and hear testimonials from rape and incest victims who were forced to give birth. We did this at our school and heard from medical professional, elders in the community, and a plethora of young girls and women speak of their experiences. It was held in the gym with booths offering every view and talks on the hour.
I thought Republicans didn’t want sex education in schools. Here, they just want to screw with the curriculum and then when teen pregnancies increase, blame the liberal teachers. Parents should not acquiesce to this type of overreach by our politicians. They should take charge and kick this curriculum out.
I have no problem with a good educational video on human fetal development, It shouldn’t be just thrown at kids haphazardly outside of a detailed sex education course. Any video should be medically accurate and not propaganda,
You know, when my wife worked as educational director at Planned Parenthood in Sarasota she use to confront this be ALL the time.
I loved the hypocrisy of the protesters at the PP site. One older mother who continually protested with her daughter at PP actually used them when her dear daughter got pregnant. Afterward she was back protesting.
Two of our friends from South Dakota who while they were students at Northern had an abortion in Minnesota lined up through the PP in Aberdeen! Yes Aberdeen had a Planned Parenthood! Now they are of course against it. It never ends.
…I think student should be conversant with the best information on this and other basic biological information. Any mammal develops in utero over time. Humans are no different.
Yes! Call in the school nurses!
One of the things I struggle with in discussions about birth control and reproductive rights is what appears to be a narrow definition of being “pro-life.” Too often, the focus seems to end at birth.
If we truly value human life, that concern should extend beyond the fetus and continue throughout childhood. It should include ensuring that children have access to adequate food, safe housing, quality medical care, and strong educational opportunities. Yet many of the same voices who advocate most strongly for unborn children oppose programs designed to help children after they are born.
I am also troubled by efforts that divert public funding away from public schools. When resources are reduced, the children who depend most on those schools often receive fewer opportunities. A commitment to life should include a commitment to providing every child with a fair chance to succeed.
Likewise, a society that supports the death penalty cannot easily claim that all human life is sacred. If life is truly precious, that principle should apply consistently.
There is also an undeniable imbalance in who bears the consequences of pregnancy. Men will never face pregnancy themselves, yet they are often among the loudest voices seeking to restrict the choices available to women. It is difficult not to wonder whether the debate would look very different if men, rather than women, were the ones who could become pregnant. In that world, access to birth control might be viewed not as a controversy, but as a necessity.
For me, being pro-life means caring about human beings at every stage of life—not only before birth, but after birth as well.
Well said Jamie Damon.
I’m not fond of the labels surrounding women’s reproductive rights. Just because I’m pro-choice does not mean that I’m anti life. Or if I’m pro-life, am I therefore anti-choice?
Living in the 21st century, with all the medical know how we have, and women are being denied lifesaving surgeries. It’s barbaric.
That’s what young girls need to hear about.
I guess you know which side does the indoctrinating sans doctors.
Where advanced people reside, this is a non-issue. The states decide and we decided decades ago. Like legal marijuana is a non-issue. Like mail in ballots are a fully decided, non-issue. etc. etc. etc.
How is your state supposed to progress if you forever chew on these non-issues like a fat cow chews her cud?