Alaska parents gain rights over sex education in schools

CatholicAnchor.org
Alaskan parents won a hard fought battle to gain control over what is taught to their children when it comes to sex education.

Rolled into a larger education bill dealing with local control of state education funds, the Alaska Legislature sent legislation to Gov. Bill Walker to sign that requires sex education teachers as well as their curriculum and classroom materials to first be approved by local school boards before such classes can begin.

Gov. Walker had until July 28 to sign the bill or simply let it become law by taking no action. The governor chose the latter route but still drew the ire of pro-abortion groups in Alaska, not least Planned Parenthood.

House Bill 156 states that before using sex education curriculum it must be available for review by parents, and the sex education teacher’s credentials must be presented to parents.

Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocates pressed the governor to veto the legislation, claiming it would limit student access to sex education. The fact that the governor’s inaction allowed the measure to become law drew a response from Planned Parenthood in Alaska, which regularly pushes its version of sex education in public schools.

“We’re disappointed, and we’re frustrated,” Planned Parenthood stated in an email to supporters. “But because of you, this decision was not an easy one for the governor. Because of you, his phone was ringing off the hook and his email inbox was flooded with messages. Because of you, he waited until the last possible minute to decide.”

Pro-life groups, meanwhile, urged the governor to pass the bill as a common sense way to ensure that pro-abortion groups don’t sneak their agenda into classrooms without the knowledge of parents and local school boards.

While the main body of the bill deals with local control over education funding, Senator Mike Dunleavy introduced language dealing with sex education. This came after Dunleavy’s Senate Bill 89 was held without a vote in the House Health and Social Services Committee. SB 89 contained similar language but also banned abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, from contracting with public schools to teach in Alaska’s schools.

Alaska Right to Life sees the bill as a way to “slow Planned Parenthood down from marketing their ‘services’ to Alaska’s children and, more importantly, will force school board members to go on record if they support Planned Parenthood.”

“Planned Parenthood’s fight over this section should make one wonder as to why they oppose the bill,” said Alaska Right to Life Executive Director Christopher Kurka
 in a letter to supporters.

Kurka added, suggesting that leadership in the abortion rights organization “do not want their approaches and materials to be vetted by a public school board. What could they possibly want to hide from the public?”

For its part, Planned Parenthood vowed to continue “battling” to gain access to public schools where it can teach versions of sex education which often includes discussions about abortion, contraception and various ways of exploring ones sexuality.