MADISON, Wis. (WTAQ) - If a public school teaches sex education, it will soon have to teach kids about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases if it doesn’t already. The Wisconsin Senate passed the bill on an 18-15 party line Thursday with all Republicans voting no. The bill now goes to Governor Jim Doyle, who says he’ll sign it. Senate Democrat Judy Robson of Beloit says classes based on teaching abstinence has resulted in high rates of teen pregnancies and diseases. She said former President Bush spent $1.5 billion promoting abstinence and, “it failed miserably.” But Senate Republican Luther Olsen of Ripon says the bill takes away the communities’ ability to do what’s right for them.
Under an amendment, teachers would have to tell students they could be charged as criminals and be on the sex offender registry if they have sex with kids under 16. Planned Parenthood pushed for the bill, saying kids are getting pregnant because they don’t have accurate medical information. They said the classes should also cover things like healthy relationships and avoiding sexual violence. But Matt Sande of Pro-Life Wisconsin says the jump in sexual diseases is not happing uniformly around the state. And he challenged the notion that classes should not encourage a bias against teens who are sexually active.
