In one of their final meetings before the the end of the fall session, the Wisconsin Legislatures narrowly and divisively passed a bill which promotes the teaching of abstinence instead of contraceptive methods in public schools.
In a 17-15 partisan vote Wednesday, the Senate passed a bill that eliminates a statewide policy requiring schools with sexual education programs to provide instruction on the proper use of contraceptives to students.
The bill also requires schools to present abstinence as the only reliable way to protect oneself from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
During the meeting, Sen. Jon. Erpenbach, D-Middleton, said the measure irresponsibly ignores the pressures today’s teens face from their peers and the media to be sexually active.
By not requiring schools to show the accurate consequences of unprotected sexual behavior and how to go about such behavior in a safe manor, he said the state puts minors at a greater risk of unwanted pregnancy and infection.
Bill author Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, said the bill in no way bans schools from teaching about birth control, but rather allows local school boards to create a sexual education plan that works best for their students.
Sexual education curriculum will also now include more parental input, she said, allowing for a more personalized and localized version of these courses.
Erpenbach said teenagers generally make the choice to engage in sexual activity when they are told in school to wait until marriage.
“You can’t argue with the plain and simple fact that kids and children do get pregnant,” Erpenbach said. “‘Just say no’ doesn’t work.”
The Senate also passed two bills during the special jobs session portion of Wednesday’s meeting, one that lowers the interest rate for paying legal settlements and another that makes property owners liability free if trespassers hurt themselves on their property.
Sen. Jim Holperin, D-Conover, said the bill to protect property owners if trespassers hurt themselves is not a bill that should be included in a special session to create jobs.
“This is not a jobs creation bill, as it has nothing to do with creating jobs,” Holperin said. “This legislation that we are voting right now is simply a way of getting around regular schedule scheduling. … That’s the only reason it’s on this agenda – a subterfuge to get around Senate rules in regular session.”
However, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said that the purpose of the bills introduced into the special session is part of a two-pronged approach to help create jobs and a business-friendly environment in Wisconsin that will attract business from throughout the Midwest.
Sen. Joe Leibham, R-Sheboygan, argued that the bill does address job concerns. He said that in conversations with three of the largest employers in his district, the three biggest issues they had were the regulatory climate, the litigation climate and the workforce, and that the bills before the Senate today dealt with those two issues.
However, Sen. Julie Lass, D-Stevens Point, said that the biggest issues for businesses were focused on educating the workforce, not taxes, liability or regulations. She said that in a conversation with six Green Bay business owners, five said the biggest issues they faced were a workforce without proper training.
