Lawmakers Passionately Debate Sex Ed in Schools

10.21.2009 by Jeff Robinson

(KCPW News) Utah lawmakers debated sex education in public schools today on Capitol Hill.  Democratic Senator Luz Robles, who’s district in northwest Salt Lake County has been plagued by high teen pregnancy rates, argued that sex education is strictly a health issue, not a moral issue.  She said the current abstinence-only model in the state is problematic.

“This is not working for my district, and I think all of you care for every child in the state of Utah, so if we’re going to have this discussion, I think it’s important that you guys take into consideration there are other children in the state of Utah, not only the ones in your district,” she said.

Robles urged her fellow lawmakers on the Health and Human Services Interim Committee to focus on scientific information during the discussion.

Republican Senator Chris Buttars responded that he believes science has its place in the discussion, but that sex education is also a moral issue.  He then introduced Dr. Miriam Grossman, the author of a book about the  “lies of sex education.”  She argued that proponents of sex ed have a hidden agenda.

“In fact, sex ed programs such as Planned Parenthood’s are not based on science.  What’s seen under the microscope is ignored,” said Grossman.  ” Instead, they are animated by a vision for social change.  They are centered on a radical ideology that values first and foremost sexual freedom.”

Democratic State Representative Lynn Hemingway is sponsoring a bill that would create two different tracks for sex education in public schools:  one that includes information about contraceptives, and one that teaches abstinence only.