Legislature(2015 - 2016)CAPITOL 106
04/12/2016 03:00 PM House HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB72 | |
| SB89 | |
| Confirmation Hearing(s): State Medical Board | |
| SB89 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 72 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 89 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 89-SCHOOLS: PARENT RTS;ABORT. PROVDRS LIMITS
3:10:27 PM
CHAIR SEATON announced that the next order of business would be
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 89(RLS) am(efd add), "An Act relating to
a parent's right to direct the education of a child; prohibiting
a school district from contracting with an abortion services
provider; prohibiting a school district from allowing an
abortion services provider to furnish course materials or
provide instruction concerning sexuality or sexually transmitted
diseases; relating to physical examinations for teachers; and
providing for an effective date."
CHAIR SEATON reminded the members that during the last meeting
the committee received testimony from the sponsor, his office
staff, a limited amount of public testimony, quite a bit of
written testimony, and some calls to his office. He advised
that testimony would begin today with the state epidemiologist
and to look at some of the Department of Health and Social
Services' considerations on this bill.
3:11:06 PM
JOE MCLAUGHLIN, M.D., Chief and State Epidemiologist, Section of
Epidemiology, Division of Public Health, Department of Health
and Social Services (DHSS), said he was available to answer
questions.
CHAIR SEATON asked Dr. McLaughlin to lead the committee through
information on epidemiology and sexually transmitted diseases,
teen pregnancies and, in the doctor's opinion, how it relates to
education on those issues.
DR. MCLAUGHLIN responded that Alaska has the unfortunate
distinction of having one of the highest STD rates in the
country. Historically over the last decade and one-half, Alaska
has been number one or two in the country for chlamydia
infection, and in the past six to seven years Alaska has been in
the top ten for gonorrhea infection. He offered that chlamydia
is the most commonly reported sexually transmitted bacteria in
the United States, and untreated chlamydia infection can cause a
number of adverse problems down the road, which includes
miscarriage, pre-term labor, low birth rate, conjunctivitis and
pneumonia in neo-nates, pelvic inflammatory disease which can
cause infertility in women, chronic pelvic pain, and problems in
men as well. As for gonorrhea infection, it can also lead to
many of the same problems faced with chlamydia infection,
including pelvic inflammatory disease that can lead to
infertility in women which is a major problem for these women.
He offered that Molly Rosier was available to answer questions
regarding birth rates.
3:13:34 PM
CHAIR SEATON noted that Dr. McLaughlin had provided the
committee with a number of charts and graphs with public health
data and asked whether education on these matters aids in the
reduction of rates, and the rates in areas where education is
stressed versus areas not stressing education.
DR. MCLAUGHLIN responded that a research articles he will send
to the committee was published in 2008, entitled, "Abstinence
only in comprehensive sex education and the initiation of sexual
activity and teen pregnancy." He explained that the upshot of
this publication was that, teaching about contraception was not
associated with an increased risk of adolescent sexual activity
or STDs. He further explained that adolescents receiving
comprehensive sexual education have a lower risk of pregnancy
than adolescents receiving abstinence only or no sex education.
3:15:14 PM
MOLLY ROSIER, Manager, Child and Adolescent Health Unit,
Women's, Children's, Family, Health Section, Division of Public
Health, Department of Health and Social Services, advised that
2014 data identifies for ages 15-19, the rate was 27.8 per 1,000
years which is about the national average. Although, she
related it is striking that in Alaska there are huge regional
disparities which can be the result of access to care or
perceptions around pregnancy and child birth. At the state and
national level it is known that evidenced based, age
appropriate, health education can reduce teen pregnancy. The
Office of Adolescent Health identified the number of health
education curriculums that have evidence of effectiveness to
reduce teen pregnancies, she said.
CHAIR SEATON asked whether she has a listing of those that have
been effective at reducing teen pregnancies.
MS. ROSIER advised the list is provided by the Office of
Adolescent Health, and also a number of other nationally
searchable sites that she would be happy to share.
CHAIR SEATON asked her to share that information with the
committee.
CHAIR SEATON opened public testimony on SB 89.
3:17:43 PM
JUDY ANDREE said she is testifying on behalf of herself, her
family, and her husband. She related that she and her husband
have five children that graduated from Juneau-Douglas High
School (JDHS), four of them were enrolled in a health class when
it was required and it offered sex education. She asked her
children whether anything had been discussed about abortion, and
they responded no and appeared surprised that she even brought
it up. Subsequent to last week's hearing, she researched the
Planned Parenthood website and found the information for teens,
educators, and parents to be fair, non-judgmental, and unbiased.
She also found references to abstinence and adoption and that
the information urged people to consider their religious beliefs
as they made choices about reproductive health care. Ms. Andree
stressed that that information was important, as she and her
husband want their children, and now grandchildren, to be taught
with solid science based information on something as important
as reproductive health. She expressed that they feel it is
their right as parents to be certain everything that is taught
in public schools, which they support, contains solid fact based
education. Reproductive health is an important area of human
behavior and it can have a big impact on teen-agers, they
strongly urge the committee to vote no on SP 89, she expressed.
REPRESENTATIVE FOSTER noted he has a bill hearing in another
committee and will return after the hearing.
3:20:53 PM
TYLER MORGAN, Student, advised he has friends who have
experienced teen pregnancy and STDs. He described these
problems as real and that Planned Parenthood aims to prevent
these problems through education. He pointed out that a student
would rather speak with a professional rather than a teacher or
parent who may not know so much on the topic. Whereas, Planned
Parenthood has been shown to help students in health class, in
retreats, in student groups, and the information provided is
free of charge and available for everyone. Supporters of this
bill claim that parents are the only people who should educate
their teens on the topic; however, he has personally known
parents who allow their teen-ager to have sex whenever they
want. Hearing this, he asked, does this make you feel safe
about the parent being the only person to educate their teen on
the topic. He further asked, what if the parent was not
educated correctly during their teen years and how that could
affect their youth or, what if the parent was sexually abusive,
or absent due to jail or work. The committee may think he is
exaggerating, he expressed, but these are real life situations
and they affect students in Alaska every day. In only allowing
parents to teach their teens means that not all teens will be
taught which could result in an increase in unwanted pregnancies
and further spread of STDs, he pointed out.
3:22:48 PM
JAYNE ANDREEN, Alaska Public Health Association, Alaska Women's
Lobby, said she is testifying on behalf of the Alaska Public
Health Association, as well as the Alaska Women's Lobby, and
that both organizations are opposed to SB 89. It is important
to recognize, when reviewing this bill, the issues everyone
agrees with, including: not wanting our teens to become
pregnant; not wanting them to contracting sexually transmitted
infections; and desperately wanting parents to be actively
engaged in their children's education. That being said, she
commented, when reviewing this bill, people have to consider
that children are receiving their sex education information
through the media and the internet. Currently, studies show
that 25 percent of all web searches are looking for sex, and
studies are showing that the average age children are accessing
the free internet porn is 11 years of age. She repeated that 11
years old is the age they are starting to see this and no matter
how well parents try to protect their children from getting this
information on the internet, they are still getting it. Studies
consistently show, she said, that the more children are exposed
to and looking at this explicit internet sex, the greater the
chances they will become sexually active at a younger age.
Internet pornography is not the loving soft sexual engagement
parents would like their children to have, and it is imperative
that parents provide them with a counter-balance to what society
is making accessible to them. She extended that public health
nursing has been referenced as a viable option, but between
state fiscal year 2016 and 2017, twenty-five percent of public
health nursing staff are being eliminated so they are not
available to teach, she related.
3:25:18 PM
LISA LAGUQUIST said she is a former middle school and high
school teacher, aunt of four teen-agers, and a mother of two
small children. She pointed out that the few people testifying
in favor of the [related] bills are actually testifying against
abortion, but these bills do not have anything to do with
abortion - they are about education. She surmised that these
bills would increase the rate of unplanned pregnancy and;
therefore, increase the rate of abortion. She asked the
legislators in the room how many have attended a Planned
Parenthood presentation, and stated that she has attended two,
and that they helped clarify her values and how to present
values for her students. She attested that she has been to
Planned Parenthood programs for adults and described them as
very worthwhile. Subsequent to testimonies in committee
hearings, people have stopped her and expressed their
appreciation for her testimony and expressed that this bill is
crazy. Alaska has numerous funding problems and there isn't
enough money for education, yet this is free education in
schools and this bill wants to cut it which makes no sense, she
said. She pointed out that Senator Dunleavy and others have
stated that they believe in sex education and asked why teachers
can't teach it. She responded that teachers are not prepared
and they don't want to, students don't want their teachers
teaching it, and nurses can't teach it. In attempting to do
more, she produced over 120 signatures of students, teacher, and
private citizens from Juneau who want to be able to invite
Planned Parenthood into Juneau schools.
3:28:44 PM
KYLER ROMME, Senior, Thunder Mountain High School, said he is a
senior and a current member of the Juneau Teen Council. She
expressed strong opposition to SB 89, and advised it proceeds to
ban educators, such as Planned Parenthood, from being invited
into schools or even providing resources for teachers or other
volunteers to use. The bill makes it harder for students to
receive the education they not only deserve, but need. The opt-
in system is not only unnecessary, but another waste of time and
resources because the opt-out system has been used as long as he
can remember and it has worked perfectly fine. He said he does
not understand the need to implement these rules when there are
no problems. He reminded the committee that this is the second
year in a row that people who care about the education of their
youth have had to stand up and fight a seemingly impossible
battle, a battle that should not even be happening. Alaska
leads the nation in a lot of not so wonderful categories, such
as chlamydia rates among 15-19 year olds and teen pregnancy
rates. He related that he hopes the voices of the people
calling for this heinous bill to be stopped will be heard, and
urged the committee to vote no on SB 89, so their children and
the youth of Alaska can receive what they need to grow up the
safest and happiest that they can.
3:30:16 PM
ANALICIA CASTANEDA, Senior, Thunder Mountain High School,
advised that for the past three years she has been a member of
the Juneau Teen Council, an organization through Planned
Parenthood that focuses on spreading information about healthy
relationships and healthy sexuality. This group of dedicated
teens meet weekly to discuss topics such as boundaries, consent,
and what an unhealthy relationship may look like, and that being
a volunteer of Planned Parenthood has proven to be a successful
manner for her to use her role as a peer leader in her school to
spread knowledge and empowerment. She expressed that banning
Planned Parenthood would also ban her and her fellow Teen
Council members from going into classrooms and peer educating.
She remarked that as a teen-ager it is extremely powerful to
learn from someone their age rather than an adult they can't
totally relate to. Planned Parenthood staff and Teen Council
members are trained on how to be inclusive and medically
accurate when teaching a class while also making the discussion
interesting and engaging. As you know, Alaska does not have
mandated sex education, yet it is important for teens to become
familiar with discussions about consent, healthy relationships,
and personal boundaries. Letting people from Planned Parenthood
provide information about sexuality ensures that students are
receiving comprehensive and medically accurate information.
There is no guarantee that what teachers tell students about
sexuality is accurate due to the lack of mandated curriculum.
Planned Parenthood provides teachers and students with resources
and information about creating healthy relationships and sexual
assault prevention. She asked that the committee allow Planned
Parenthood to continue its work in schools so that students will
receive the facts and not turn to unreliable sources.
CHAIR SEATON asked whether the education she is providing
focuses on or deals with abortion.
MS. CASTANEDA responded no, they would never bring up abortion
in a classroom and it is not something they would focus on.
3:32:48 PM
TASHA ELIZARDE, Junior, Juneau-Douglas High School, advised that
as a teen-ager, she noticed the lack of access to medically
accurate sexual health education at home because, as many teens,
she did not learn much about her own body until it was
introduced through the public education system. For example,
she said she was extremely confused the first time she
experienced her menstruation cycle because it was never
discussed amongst her family members or her peers, and she then
grew ashamed of her own body for doing something completely
natural. It was not until after her mother discovered she had
started her period that she was finally taught a little bit
about the process, but even then most of the information she
needed came from school. Alaskan youth must have access to a
comprehensive education to prevent fear and shame from occurring
and, unfortunately, SB 89's opt-in policy creates a barrier for
teens who need this education. The opt-in policy does not
ensure that parents will become more involved in their
children's education and, she pointed out it takes away the
student's right to much needed information because if the form
is not turned in on time, the student is automatically excluded
from learning about healthy relationships, their anatomy, or
sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention. Furthermore,
she stressed, in the event a child is being abused by their
parent or guardian, the abuser can simply not sign the form that
would allow their child to gain access to lifesaving lessons
mandated through the Alaska Safe Children's Act. Alaskan youth
need to have access to medically accurate, comprehensive sexual
education and SB 89 will only decrease the needed accessibility,
she stressed and asked that the committee not pass SB 89.
3:35:21 PM
DEANNA HOBBS, Senior, Thunder Mountain High School, shared that
she has attended Alaska Association of Student Governments
(AASG) youth conference where 37 schools and 300 students from
all regions of Alaska come together and discuss resolutions, and
the executive board members offered SB 89 as a topic for
discussion. She related that there were teens opposing
abortion, opposing Planned Parenthood, teens loving Planned
Parenthood, people from all over Alaska with completely
different ideas and thoughts, and incredibly they all came
together in opposition to this bill. All of the teens voted to
oppose SB 89, and she asked those in favor of the bill to
consider why it is that teens do not support it. She related
that she is a three-year Teen Council member and that she would
like to open the floor to answer any questions the committee
members may have.
MS. HOBBS explained that Teen Council members, when invited, go
into classrooms and meet with youth groups. A few members went
to Anchorage for a youth conference where topics were discussed
such as sexuality - what it means and why it's not scary - and
STIs and anatomy, because it is so much easier to connect with
peers than with adults, which is so important. The entire
program would be stopped if this bill passes, which she opined
would be sad because there have been improvements in one-on-one
conversations due to Teen Council members learning so much that
they have passed their knowledge to other people. She
reiterated her willingness to answer any questions.
3:37:56 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR noted that in the past, the Alaska
Association of Student Government took a position in favor of
comprehensive sexuality education. She noted that the youth
conference Ms. Hobbs had discussed took the position of
opposition to SB 89, and she asked whether that had been in the
form of a formal resolution and, if so, whether Ms. Hobbs could
forward it to the committee.
MS. HOBBS confirmed that it was a formal resolution that had
been sent to the Senate, and she could provide it to the
committee.
CHAIR SEATON advised that the committee would like to include
the resolution with the committee records.
MS. HOBBS said she will get it to the committee.
3:38:49 PM
CAROLINE STORM thanked the testifying high school students for
their testimonies as they are the ones the committee needs to
hear from, and that it takes a lot of courage to testify in
front of a legislative committee. She advised she is in
opposition to this bill, Planned Parenthood provides evidence
based, accredited reproductive education and she was unsure why
the bill is trying to counter that. This is a direct attack on
the health and safety of young adults that do not have the
resources of loving family guidance. She pointed out the
responsibility of protecting the health and safety of Alaska's
young adults, and stressed that this bill does not do that.
Rather, it strips them of the resources they desperately need.
She asked whether this committee had seen data or any report
indicating that the accredited curriculum in question, provided
by Planned Parenthood, teaches about abortion or has directly
lead to an abortion.
3:40:16 PM
CHRISTOPHER KURKA, Executive Director, Alaska Right to Life,
offered that during another committee meeting, Representative
Lora Reinhold had asked a Planned Parenthood representative
whether the allegations were true that Planned Parenthood was
encouraging 10 year olds to have sex and was promoting the idea
that it is alright for a person with HIV not to tell his/her sex
partner. He related that he had available screen captures from
Planned Parenthood's web site, because the Planned Parenthood
representative denied [the allegations] categorically. He
advised that Planned Parenthood "lied to you." Mr. Kurka stated
that the Planned Parenthood web site has a book it promotes for
10 year olds and older, titled It's Perfectly Normal. He said
he does not understand why this is considered appropriate sex
education for young children, because "this is porn, basically."
Furthermore, he stated, a publication Planned Parenthood
promotes internationally is entitled, Happy, Healthy, and Hot.
He read, "Young people living ... with HIV have the right to
decide if, when, and how to disclose their HIV status." He
continued reading another line from the publication, as follows:
"Your decision about whether to disclose may change with
different people and situations. You have the right to decide
if, when, and how to disclose your HIV status." Mr. Kurka
submitted that if the concern is preventing HIV, and Alaskans
support reducing the amount of STDs in the state, then Planned
Parenthood is not the answer.
3:42:57 PM
DOUG KOESTER said he is representing the Kachemak Bay Family
Planning Clinic and opposes SB 89. Kachemak Bay Family Planning
Clinic in Homer is an independent non-profit founded by
community members worried about teen pregnancy rates, and it has
taught sex education in the schools for 20 years. In fact, he
related, yesterday he and his colleagues with the peer educator
team talked in the Chapman School, Anchor Point, where the
teachers were thankful they were teaching sex education. The
teachers made it clear, he related, that the students do not
want to be taught sex education by their regular teachers,
because it is not a comfortable subject to teach and the
students do not like to ask their regular teachers questions
involving these topics. He clarified that the Kachemak Bay
Family Planning Clinic has a lot of experience in the schools,
and although they are not Planned Parenthood or funded by
Planned Parenthood, they work with peer educators of the Teen
Council. He described them as some of the most amazing,
educated, and empathetic people the committee will ever meet.
Mr. Koester said Planned Parenthood as an organization "is
really not who we are talking about." He clarified that the
discussion is about people who are doing a very difficult job in
the schools. He explained that the discussion is about intense
issues and not everyone wants to do that. He emphasized that
those from the clinic are some of the most educated and the most
empathetic people in terms of teaching sex education.
CHAIR SEATON thanked him for his work in Homer, and noted he has
attended some of the lessons the group taught.
3:45:35 PM
ARLENE RONDA said is speaking for herself and her grandchildren
in opposition to the two amendments to SB 89, regarding the
abortion providers and she opined that most of the testifiers
were speaking to that today. She saluted the teens who have
testified and who marvelously spoke their truth. She then
referred to Sections 3 and 5 of the bill which speak to the
abortion providers and pointed out that when the district does
not include abortion information in its curriculum and when
parents have the right to view materials and opt-out of all
human sexuality presentations as they clearly do, these
[sections] are superfluous. Both [sections] go well beyond
protecting parental rights, and they attempt to codify a
partisan view and; therefore, she urged the committee to reject
both of the [sections].
CHAIR SEATON advised that the committee has the [committee
substitute that includes the two amendments in the bill] and
that possibly the amendments she was discussing were added
before the bill came to House Health, Education and Social
Services Standing Committee.
3:47:41 PM
ED GRAY said he is a parent with two teen-agers enrolled in the
Sitka School District, and he urged the committee to support SB
89. In September 2013, Planned Parenthood moved into the Sitka
schools with several Planned Parenthood supporters on the school
board and one in the administration. He was one of
approximately 150 families to oppose Planned Parenthood in the
public schools. Planned Parenthood is able to exist, function,
and educate but they don't think they should be in the schools.
Those families view public school as common ground where anyone
with any set of values can send their children, and they believe
that Planned Parenthood has a specific agenda in what it does
and they do not agree with its agenda. The reasons being that
Planned Parenthood kills 335,000 unborn children a year, it
promotes sexual activity, it does use child porn, and it
promotes an agenda these families do not agree with. He
reiterated that they believe it is common ground, they just
don't believe it belongs in the public school. He then referred
to the previous testimonies of young people throughout the
course of this bill, but the committee should remember that
these young people are being recruited by Planned Parenthood in
the schools to come to these hearings and testify.
3:50:02 PM
JULIE STROEMER said she has children and grandchildren in the
school system and advised she is strongly in favor of SB 89.
She stated that she pulled her child out of school when the
Planned Parenthood representative came in to teach. It was
inappropriate and distasteful, she opined, that the number one
abortion provider in the United States and perhaps the world,
would have anything to do with sex education in public schools.
The children were asked to fill out a form and she found it
disturbing that Planned Parenthood asked for the children's
personal email addresses and she opined that by obtaining email
addresses from these children, it was actually establishing a
client base. Her child was not in the classroom so she could
not speak to exactly what was said, but her classmates said that
many of the things the Planned Parenthood representative said
was inappropriate, and it has no place in our public schools.
Planned Parenthood will benefit from the millions of dollars
that will be made off of unplanned pregnancies, she said.
3:51:46 PM
ANN BILLS said she raised five children in Sitka, she has
grandchildren in the school system, she took care of her
children's sex education needs, and it should be passed as
written. She noted that a Planned Parenthood representative
stated it has been in this state 20 years, and the next
representative advised that Alaska has the highest STDs in the
country. She commented that if it has been in Alaska 20 years
and Alaska has the highest STD rate in the country, it hasn't
made any progress for Alaskans. The [Kachemak Bay Family
Planning Clinic in Homer] appears to be a non-profit and that is
a different picture than an organization that makes money should
not be in Alaska's schools. She related that she can't go in
and have a course about things she wants people to buy from her,
and she appreciates the sanctity of life and parental rights.
3:53:20 PM
CANDY MILLER opined that most Alaskans have seen and heard a lot
of the verifiable contents which promoted the investigation of
Planned Parenthood nationwide, and she does know how this
investigation is moving forward in Alaska. Crimes against
children is well known in Alaska and nationwide, and also about
trafficking. She referred to the testimony of a woman who
acknowledged that the abortion providers were in it for the
money. She said that a portion of the Planned Parenthood agenda
is the arm that is being exposed is a money factor - a money
mill - and she opined there is a need for people to call a halt
to that in Alaska. Alaskan taxpayers should not subsidize
abortion businesses such as Planned Parenthood who profits from
the destruction of human life with taxpayer money,
3:55:36 PM
BARBARA HANEY said she requests the support of SB 89, is
representing herself, and works extensively with Alaskans
Against Common Core. "We hemmed and hawed" about some of the
Planned Parenthood provisions, mostly about opting out of
testing so why, she asked not allow parents to opt-out of any
other activity to which they object. She then referred to
issues having to do with common core and said the Alaska
Standards, like Common Core, does have units for reading and
writing, science technology, and social studies. An Oregon math
teacher, Bill (indisc.), was terminated for not allowing Planned
Parenthood in his math class, which promoted her to consider
that including provisions against Planned Parenthood in
classrooms would be a good thing. It is one thing to have
Planned Parenthood in the communities and churches, but another
thing when discussing it going into the public schools, which is
an extension of the state, she said. Therefore, the state would
be saying that the state sanctions their opinion over the
opinion of other people, but they are not the only people who
have sex education curriculum. Planned Parenthood works with
the CDC and yet these organizations have their own independent
free standing curriculums that can be used to that end. She
pointed out that if the committee truly cares about STDs it
should look at Interior Alaska because STDs have declined and
not in the rest of the state, she said.
3:58:25 PM
DAVE CARTER, Attorney, urged to leave this bill in its committee
and let it die. He asked the committee to consider the Alaska
State Constitution, Article VII, Section 1, which read:
The legislature shall by general law establish and
maintain a system of public schools open to all
children of the State, and may provide for other
public educational institutions. Schools and
institutions so established shall be free from
sectarian control. No money shall be paid from public
funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other
private educational institution.
MR. CARTER stated that all of the comments in favor of the bill
are blatantly of sectarian philosophy and they violate the
constitution with this attempted legislation. He referred to
Article VII, Sections 4-5, which read:
Section 4:
The legislature shall provide for the promotion and
protection of public health.
Section 5:
The legislature shall provide for public welfare.
3:59:43 PM
MR. CARTER pointed out that "shall" is a specific word to
lawyers and judges; therefore, it is easy for the committee to
pay attention to the constitutional requirement that guide the
committee and say that this is simply an inappropriate proposal.
The legislation is blatantly religious and that it talks about
religion at various points. He put forth the scenario of one
parent wanting their child to go to class and the other doesn't
and the child's parent has to give permission. He asked what
happens when referring to biblical sources and the husband has
authority over what the wife wants to do. He stressed that it
doesn't make sense, is not a workable bill, and to please let
the bill die a quick death.
4:00:37 PM
MOIRA PYHALA said she is a student at UAA, and is President of
Generation Action - Students for Reproductive Justice. She
related that she is in opposition to SB 89, which would not only
limit school districts but is a legislative biased attack on
abortion providers and specifically Planned Parenthood. In
order to become a certified abortion facilitator, an individual
must not only attend four years of hard labor intensive medical
school, continue further studies, specialize in gynecology, and
is required to receive hands on training specializing in
abortions. In total, she commented, this training can take 6-8
years to complete. Being raised by someone in the health field
she knows that this is the same amount of knowledge and training
that almost anyone in the medical field must undergo, so she
asked why are we alienating a single profession, questioning
capabilities to reciprocate and teach health because they have
almost the same amount of knowledge and wisdom that is required
with any health profession, and it is the same amount of
knowledge her basic health provider must have. She advised that
her father is a doctor who has presented several times in her
school, and not once has any person questioned his knowledge or
whether he was unfit to teach in the schools. She described
herself as an advocate for the brilliant doctors, nurses, and
volunteers who are not with us today and she listed the numerous
Planned Parenthood health providers who were shot and killed.
She said she stands for them, including all people who have been
physically and verbally attacked for standing up for
reproductive rights. As an active member of Generation Action -
Students for Reproductive Justice, she said she stands until the
attack on abortion providers, both physically and verbally in
state and federal government is part of this state's past. She
then pointed out that Senator Dunleavy's attack towards Planned
Parenthood is not only impractical but a waste of time. Just
because an individual has a history of providing an abortion
does not mean they are teaching that abortion is the only
option. Planned Parenthood and all groups associated with the
organization are working together to provide options for young
women and men, she related.
4:03:19 PM
DAVID NEES said he has no problem with SB 89, Section 2;
however, there is no definition in Section 3 of an educational
service organization and a definition would be useful. He
turned to Section 4, Physical examination for teachers, and
related that as a teacher he is required to pay for a yearly TB
test out of his own pocket. He referred to Section 5, and
offered that Public Law, population research, and voluntary
family planning was passed in 1970, signed into law by President
Richard Nixon, and has been in place for 46 years. Within the
last 18 years in the areas of the urban part of the state, the
birth rates for teens has gone down 10 percent, yet for Alaska
Natives in rural areas it has up 10 percent. He related that
schools are a place to present information and he is torn
because he does not know whether banning a particular provider
will help the system or make the system worse. In the event the
committee is looking at this bill as a public health issue, the
committee must talk to the state's public health people and
determine the best way to get information out and reduce the
cost of teen pregnancy. Whether it is best delivered in a
school setting or delivered by outside organizations meeting at
the school house after school hours. The problem has always
been difficult and, he related when he taught junior high
school, the PE teacher would be picked to teach the health
classes who is not a trained medical professional. He offered
that he has no problem with the entire bill basically, although,
he would like to see physical examinations free for teachers,
and the definition of educational service organization included.
4:05:51 PM
KATHY CRONEN said she has worked for many years with Alaskan
youth having been the CEO for Northstar Behavioral Health System
for over 20 years, and that she retired in 2005 to join the
faculty at Alaska Pacific University where she continues her
experience with youth in teaching health care policy, finance,
and economics. Speaking as a leader and an educator, she said
she knows firsthand the importance of not restricting access to
information that is vital for healthy decision making. In
addition to being a healthcare administrator and educator she is
also a mother having raised three daughters to adulthood. As a
parent, she believes sex education should begin at home but as a
professional she knows this does not always happen. She noted
that several young people testified they did not receive sex
education at home, or were uncomfortable about asking questions
at home. As a healthcare administrator she related that she has
seen firsthand the personal and financial cost to people who
make poor decisions regarding drug and alcohol abuse and sexual
activity. Many statistics were brought forth in testimonies
about the number of STDs and teen pregnancies in this state, and
it is well known that education works and referred to the
education programs to end smoking, to prevent drug and alcohol
abuse, she commented. Alaska is in the midst of a financial
crisis and the state and the school districts needs to work
collaboratively with providers. She referred to the possibility
of Planned Parenthood not providing these services in the
schools, and urged the committee to consider who would provide
those services. Over 2,000 children received sexual education
from Planned Parenthood last year, who will do this if Planned
Parenthood is restricted. The suggestion of teachers taking on
this responsibility has been put forth, yet teachers barely have
time to teach core curriculum. She asked whether additional
teachers would be hired, what experience and training would be
required to teach this, and what would be the overall cost to
the state. In the event a new provider, other than teachers, is
recruited from the community who will they be, and what will
they charge. She reiterated that the state is in a fiscal
crisis, and it is known that education works, and the state has
a provider who is willing to do this, she urged the committee
members not to pass SB 89.
4:08:52 PM
KRISTEN DEHAVEN, Junior, Highland Tech Charter School, opined
that teens have the right to comprehensive, unbiased, non-
judgmental medical information, and by passing SB 89 it would be
an obstruction to [Article I], Section 1, of the Alaska State
Constitution because it takes away the teen's right to
education. Passage of this bill would prevent teens from making
educated informational knowledge about their health and sex
education should be taught at school because at home they may
not actually be taught. Sex education should be given in a safe
and accurate manner that is unbiased, which is a great thing for
teens. She opined that passing this bill would probably
increase pregnancy and STD rates which is exactly what Alaskans
want to prevent, and to please vote no on SB 89.
4:10:34 PM
HENRY SCHILDBECK, Senior, Highland Tech Charter School, said he
is a Teen Council member and explained that Teen Council is a
group of teen-agers dedicated to providing comprehensive,
medically accurate, sexual education to teens in their own
schools and schools within the Anchorage School District. Teens
in this program receive extensive training on how to educate
other teens on topics that range from sexual and reproductive
health to healthy relationships. The goals are education,
prevention, and to enable people to live healthy, happy lives.
To fill a gap in teens' lives by providing the resources of
trained knowledgeable and non-judgmental information regardless
of the question. Alaska has no standardize sexual health
education and less than one-quarter of Alaskan schools teach the
recommended HIV, STD, and pregnancy prevention topics during the
2013-2014 school year, he related. Alaska is rated 47th with
only three other states having less sexual health education.
With Alaska being ranked number one in the nation for chlamydia
and with teen pregnancy rates on the rise, this is completely
unacceptable. He pointed out that teachers invite Teen Council
and Planned Parenthood into their classrooms to supplement
lessons, filling in a gap to the state's inaction to set up
comprehensive sex education. It has been consistently shown
that comprehensive sex education, such as the kind offered by
Planned Parenthood and Teen Council is extremely effective in
reducing STIs, delaying the start sexual activity, and lowering
teen pregnancy rates. He pointed out that the first goal should
be to teach comprehensive sex education rather than plunge
Alaska's youth into the dark about their own bodies. This
legislation would turn the opt-out system into an opt-in system
destroying any hope of Erin's Law and comprehensive sex
education reaching those who need it the most. The sexual child
abuse rates are over six times the national average, and the
[sponsor] should be ashamed to introduce a bill such as this in
Alaska. Teachers, students and communities rely upon Planned
Parenthood and Teen Council to provide sex education information
and passage would be disastrous for teens and communities
already struggling with education, he said. Speaking as a teen,
a constituent, and voice for his peers, he requested that the
committee oppose SB 89, and allow comprehensive sexual education
to be taught in schools rather than shied away from.
4:12:35 PM
LILY SPIROSKI, Ninth Grader, Highland Tech Charter School, said
that as an older sister and a student at a charter school, she
wants a program such as Planned Parenthood and Teen Council to
teach her and her younger siblings about safe sex and healthy
relationships and abstinence, and she has learned about
abstinence and prevention of infections. As a teen and a voice
of her peers, she requested opposition to SB 89, and to allow
the continuation of comprehensive, medically accurate sexual
health education by Planned Parenthood and Teen Council.
4:13:25 PM
CLEO SWEETMAN, Junior, Highland Tech Charter School, said that
comprehensive, medically accurate sexual education is an
important and necessary subject to be taught in middle school
and high school. As a teen-ager, she said, she has a need and a
right to know everything about what is alright and what is not
for her and her body. Programs that provide sexual education in
middle schools and high schools establish and maintain a
comfortable and non-judgmental learning environment with
accurate answers for any questions students may have. She
reminded the committee that puberty, sex, birth control,
pregnancy, STDs and healthy relationships are all things teen-
agers need to know about, otherwise Alaska will continue to have
the twelfth highest teen pregnancy rates, the highest STD rates,
and the highest domestic abuse rates. She related that she is a
teen-ager, a constituent, and a voice for her peers who did not
make it in today, she opposes SB 89, and requested the
continuation of comprehensive, medically accurate sexual
education in middle schools and high schools.
4:14:42 PM
TANNER DUNN, Senior, Highland Tech Charter School, said he
opposes this bill because he believes all teens should have
access to unbiased medically accurate information, and Planned
Parenthood gives out this information free of charge. Whether
on their web site or through a representative at a school, this
bill would starve teens of this vitally important information.
The passage of this bill would lead to an increase in teen
pregnancy and teen STDs in Alaska, and he asked that the
committee vote no on SB 89.
4:15:18 PM
ROBIN SMITH said that most parents find dealing with their teen-
ager's sexuality to be difficult because parents don't want them
hurt or find themselves in difficult situations such as an
unintended pregnancy. For a male or female, STIs and HIV can be
life changing, but many parents simply ignore it or barely touch
the surface. Teens report that their main source of information
about sex, dating, and sexual health comes from what they see on
the media, including music videos, reality shows, beer ads,
online porn, and video games. Social media is another problem
because girls are pressured to send naked selfies to boys, and
parents are appalled to hear that oral sex has become the new
kissing, and pray that this is not true in Alaska. Parents
simply want to lock up their children until they are adults, but
they can't so they mustn't be blind to what is actually
happening out there. Time Magazine's latest issue states that
the lack of sexual education in schools has made online porn the
de facto sex education for many young people. She advised that
eleventh grade girls confided to her "I watch porn because I'm a
virgin and I want to figure out how sex works." Porn eroticizes
the degradation of women, and the biggest users of online
pornography are 12-17 year old boys, and that one in five
children will be approached by a sexual predator online, and she
described those statistics as scary. She stressed that, yet
with all of this going on over the past 20 years in survey after
survey of local communities, or nationwide, 80-85 percent of
parents indicate they want their children to receive
comprehensive, medically accurate, age appropriate sex
education. She pointed out that parents say children need to be
taught about delaying the onset of intimate sexual relationships
until they are mature and responsible, and also need to be given
the information and skills they need to use condoms and
contraception when they do choose to become sexually active.
4:17:58 PM
KENNI PSENAK-LINDEN said she was born and raised in Palmer, and
encouraged the committee to oppose SB 89 due to the opt-in
provision for comprehensive sex education which could
potentially jeopardize education funding for the state,
especially in its current fiscal crisis. She said she also
opposes unfairly targeting sexual health education in highly
trained educators, and that as a National Baccalaureate student
at Palmer High School she had the opportunity to sit on the Mat-
Su School District School Board and serve as the first student
on the Mat-Su School District Curriculum Council. After
college, she stated, she briefly taught as a substitute teacher
around the district and had the pleasure to see the
transformative work taking place in its schools every day. She
related that SB 89 creates harmful and unnecessary boundaries to
accessing essential comprehensive and scientifically accurate
reproductive health education. Curriculum standards already
prevent abortions from being addressed within the classroom
which means that SB 89 is misguided, likely unconstitutional,
and actively undermines the purview of teachers and local
educators to have local control and teach to the needs of their
students, and these needs include information on healthy
relationships and consent. She related that she wished her
health education and the health education of her assailant had
included these key lessons which may have prevented the trauma
she experienced after being sexually assaulted at 15 years of
age. She regards herself as lucky she came away from that
experience with PTSD and not STIs or pregnancy, and she
appreciates that Planned Parenthood, as an organization, stepped
in to fill a gap and provide lifesaving evidenced based
education. Parents have the opportunity to opt-out of any
education that does not align with their values, and to please
not create additional barriers for families that do want
qualified and experienced educators in the classroom. Speaking
as a soon to be parent herself, she and her husband have
discussed the need and their overwhelming desire that their
children will receive better sex education than they did, both
at home and in their classrooms so please oppose SB 89, she
asked.
4:20:54 PM
NIAL LINDEN said he and his wife live in Palmer and he extended
that sexual education is important to young people, and SB 89
should be opposed. He related that he grew up as a Catholic in
Ireland where sex education was not included in the curriculum.
His first girlfriend was raped by her brother's best friend when
she was 11 years of age and she had no idea what or why this
happened and she was naturally confused. This rape was caused
by a person she saw daily as a good family friend and she had
nowhere to go. For the next two years she did not receive sex
education and thought she was going to have a baby at any minute
because sex equals a baby. For those two years she felt shame,
for two years she lived in constant fear of what was inside of
her and what was going to happen and it wasn't until the ninth
grade in biology that she learned that the gestation period was
approximately nine months and that she wasn't pregnant.
Needless to say she was markedly scarred and spent all of her
young adolescent life and formative years afraid of boys, and it
was six years before she ever confided in someone, and that
someone was him. He stressed that he knows she still carries
those scars, and if a person believes that comprehensive sex
education has no place in schools, to then please think of this
young girl, how she could have found sex education in school
that wasn't her family or friend and she could have asked these
questions. If a member believes this sort of panic is part of
normal growing up then vote for this bill, but a member believes
that this should never happen to anyone to please oppose this
bill. The committee may vote to remove trained educators from
the classroom, create barriers for students, and he pointed out
that abstinence only is not a solution to sexual education.
There are no sexual standards in Alaska despite its high rates
of STDs and sexual abuse. Withholding information from children
causes children to suffer, he related and it is completely
within the committee's power to give children this information
and stop the suffering. Voting as a House Health, Education and
Social Services Standing Committee member, he opined that it is
the committee's duty to stop the suffering, even if it is just
one girl.
4:23:43 PM
PAIGE HODSON related she has special expertise with some of the
topics around this bill as she has survived raising three teen-
agers in the Anchorage School District, and survived reviewing
sex education curriculum each time it was offered. She noted
that she sat in on classroom presentations, such as Planned
Parenthood, and that she is adamantly opposed to SB 89, and
related bills. Most teens on a typical day coming home from
school have little to no response to "What did you do in school
today? ... "Nothin." All parents hope that their children will
come to them with questions about their bodies and sexuality,
but the reality is that even in the best parent/child
relationships, they often don't. As parents, the hope is that
by the time their children are in middle school and high school
the parents have instilled their values in their children, and
at some point, a good parent has to trust that their children
are fully capable of using their critical thinking skills to
distill facts in school, just as they do every day in every
other subject. Public schools are just that, public, a place
for children to learn multiple points of view and use their
critical thinking skills, and a place for children to learn
facts and science which includes health and biology, she said.
Planned Parenthood is the premiere sexual health educator in the
country, she described, and it is ridiculous and short-sighted
to target them for exclusion. She related that her children had
exposure to speakers from both Planned Parenthood and an
abstinence only group, and she had the option to opt her teens
out of either presentation if she cared to, she didn't.
However, the one that caused her more concern was the abstinence
only group who pushed a shaming religious agenda and gave the
children medically inaccurate information. The presenter
actually said that if they have sex before marriage, they
couldn't bond with their marital partners down the line and
compared them to used chewing gum. Thankfully, the teacher
corrected that misinformation, the presentation was so bad that
the students were outraged and the teacher said they would never
be invited back. Her point is that even though she didn't care
for that presentation, she trusted her children to sift through
what was presented and reconcile it with their values and make
intelligent decisions. She remarked that this bill is based on
fear, scoring political points, demonizing medical
professionals, and distrust of a parent's own child's ability to
learn facts in science and make healthy decision for their
lives.
4:26:54 PM
SHERI DELIN, Junior, Highland Tech Charter School, said that
without accurate sexual education, she and her peers would lack
important knowledge while moving into their adult lives. With
the knowledge that Planned Parenthood provides, she said she
would receive accurate information and better improve her peers'
understanding of safe sexual activity. Being a teen, she noted
that she would like to see Planned Parenthood remain in schools
as it is now and continue to provide the accurate information as
it always has.
4:27:40 PM
JACOB GRIGGS, Senior, Highland Tech Charter School, related that
with the internet readily available to all, accurate information
is hard to come by. Planned Parenthood has consistently given
accurate comprehensive sexual education and it would be a shame
to see it removed from public schools. He pointed out that by
passing SB 89, the committee would deny that education to
thousands of growing adults, the people of the state's future.
With the rampant STD and teen pregnancy rates in Alaska,
removing this expertly taught sexual education would only serve
to further these statistics. He then advised the committee that
none of the people present were asked to provide testimony.
4:28:37 PM
ZHENIA PETERSON said she is in opposition of SB 89. The public
has seen several different bills attacking Planned Parenthood
for parental rights, abortion, and safety for children. She
explained that parental rights are present in the State of
Alaska where parents can opt their children out of any subject,
including sex education. This bill would add unnecessary
burdens on parents by enacting the opt-in system, unnecessary
burdens on the teachers for the time they would have to spend
contacting parents, and it would be costly during Alaska's
budget deficit. While abortion is one of the services Planned
Parenthood provides, she pointed out that it does not teach,
talk, or mention abortion during sex education classes.
Recently, the Alaska Right to Life group posted on their
Facebook page that Planned Parenthood is "quote, using
pornographic materials" to promote promiscuity in Alaska's
public schools, and that the state should "stop sexualizing our
children." Anyone who has ever picked up a Planned Parenthood
brochure can relate that Planned Parenthood does not use
pornographic materials to promote promiscuity, nor do they
sexualize children. Instead, she commented, the brochures
contain anatomy and medically accurate information. All
students should have access to sex education without barriers
because sexual education is important and it will prepare
students for a successful and informed adult life. Even though
she is at the collegiate level, she related that she often finds
her peers to be confused about informed consent, how to lead a
healthy life and make healthy sexual decisions, know what STIs
are and where to get treatment. Access to sex education is both
critical for students and vital for this state with its epidemic
with sexually transmitted diseases and sexual abuse. Therefore,
she extended, teaching students what it means to be healthy and
where to receive services for STI treatment and prevention would
cut costs and return the saved monies to assist in the budget
deficit. Planned Parenthood's role in Alaska is indispensable
for students to access information, and Alaskans need to learn
how to have healthy relationships with their peers and make
healthy sexual decisions. She strongly urged the committee to
support comprehensive sexual education in Alaska's schools to
decrease high rates of STIs and make sure the state is healthy,
safe, and educated.
4:31:11 PM
CAROLINE AHRENS said she represents herself and her family, and
they oppose SB 89. She offered that she teaches her children
integrity, honesty, and open communication, although any time a
Cialis or Viagra commercial comes on the television she wants to
leave the room because she doesn't want to talk erections with
her son. She related that she wants him to receive sexual
education that is factual and correct in a comfortable setting
that he has with Planned Parenthood in his school, and that she
agrees with many of the students and professional that have
testified before her. Her son attends a small charter school
and she said, "so you want to strap them with additional costs"
and that she didn't see money coming from the state. The state
is saying it will take away the free program that provides sex
education even though the school district, principal, teacher,
parent have approved the curriculum, the state is saying it will
replace it with something else "but we're not going to give you
any money to do it, by the way." The committee is looking at a
financially strapped state and it is not giving more money to
schools, but it will take away a free service that is factual
and approved education. She referred to the opt-in or opt-out
provision on sex education, and stated that this is not a field
trip; a field trip is the sort of thing the parent opts into.
Sex education should be mandatory and the parents have the
ability to opt-out but, she described, this issue is life saving
and important education. The committee may not think of it as
middle school or high school kids, but when they get to college
and are approached on a campus, parents want them to know that
what they know is factual. She stated that she and son say no
to the passage of this bill.
4:33:21 PM
MICAH PERION, Senior, Highland Tec Charter School, said that his
experience and communications with his peers has shown that the
majority of them engage in unsafe sexual activities. It worries
him on a personal level because he well knows that any
experience in the future could have a strong impact on his
health. [Passage] of SB 89 would have detrimental effects on
the youth and the future populous of the State of Alaska as it
inadvertently encourages youth to practice unsafe sex leading to
STDs with inaccurate, little, or zero medically accurate sexual
education implemented into the school system. In the event
teens and his peers are not given the option to learn the
information that Planned Parenthood is offering to teach wherein
teaching professional have invite Planned Parenthood to teach
this information, he said he fears he will see more of his peers
succumb to unsafe sexual conduct, be exposed to STDs, STIs, and
underage pregnancy. He remarked that he cannot sit by idle and
watch as the vital options for educating teens, and the future
growth of the nation about safe sex, pregnancy prevention, and
STD and STI prevention might be removed. Speaking as a teen and
a constituent, he asked the committee to oppose SB 89 and allow
medically accurate, comprehensive sexual education to continue.
4:34:56 PM
JESSICA CLER, Public Affairs Manager, Planned Parenthood, Great
Northwest and Hawaii, said she is a lifelong Alaskan, raised in
Wasilla, graduate of Colony High School, graduate of UAA, and a
current resident of Anchorage, speaks in opposition to SB 89.
She clarified for previous testifiers that Planned Parenthood is
not under investigation in Alaska because there is nothing to
investigate, Planned Parenthood is a mandatory sexual abuse
reporter, a trusted healthcare provider, and a trusted sexual
health educator. Further, she said, the lies being promulgated
against Planned Parenthood are not only inaccurate but they have
nothing to do with what is taught in the classroom, and that the
curriculum is adapted for each community, school, and class.
Parties can disagree about sexual health education and whether
it belongs in public schools, but there is no agreement that
such misguided allegations should be part of the conversation.
Speaking as a graduate of Alaska's public school system, she
said she knows firsthand the lack of access to comprehensive,
medically accurate sexual health education in the state. Alaska
has no state standards for sexual health education, yet there is
an epidemic of sexually transmitted infections, the highest rate
of reported rape in the country, and child sexual assault rates
six times the national average. She stated that her peers and
she would have greatly benefited from the kind of education
Planned Parenthood provides on prevention, consent, and healthy
relationships. Further, Planned Parenthood fills an important
gap left by the state's inaction in ensuring students have
access to the information they need. In a time when the state's
education system is facing unprecedented budget cuts, the
legislature should be encouraging districts to use every
resource available to educate its student and not limiting the
school district's options for local programming. Rather than
creating more barriers to educating, she pointed out that the
parties should be working together to ensure that the state's
youth have the resources and information needed to lead healthy
and productive lives, and SB 89 does the opposite.
4:37:12 PM
MATHEW FARINA, Senior, University of Alaska, Anchorage, said he
is from Talkeetna and that one of the most important things for
youth and everyone today is education, and that sex education is
part of education. He said he has experienced the
misinformation young adults have in his life as a male upper
classman, especially when involving condoms and availability
because people don't understand how condoms work, how to fit
them, where to get them, or which condoms are proper for them.
Also, he commented people are not aware that the spread of STDs
is not fully stopped by a condom. Further, he stated, abortion
is not allowed to be spoken of during sex education in high
schools, and having an abortion provider give the sex education
isn't related. People don't like Planned Parenthood teaching
sex education because it informs students of the services it
provides, but in addition to sex education and abortion, it also
provides preventive screenings for women, such as breast exams,
mammograms, free STD testing for the community, and vasectomies
for males. He related that knowing about Planned Parenthood's
sex education and the services it offers is important, and
abortion is not part of that when speaking to high school
students.
4:39:36 PM
SAMANTHA SAVAGE, Senior, University of Alaska Fairbanks, said
she is graduating from UAF in May with a degree in social work,
and voiced her opposition to SB 89. She said that she does not
believe that the bill sponsors and supporters understand the
endemic rates of reproductive health issues that plague the
state. In 2014, the rate of chlamydia infection was 778 persons
per 100,000 statewide, and 759 persons per 100,000 persons in
the Interior. The state's teen birth rate is higher than the
national average and it is estimated that 49 percent of women in
Fairbanks have experienced intimate partner violence in their
lifetime, and four percent of women in Fairbanks have
experienced sexual violence in the last year. It consistently
makes the news that it is one of the most dangerous places to
live as a woman in the United States. Clearly, she pointed out
there is a lack of understanding both at a state and local level
as to how to keep Alaskans healthy and safe. While attending
Colony High School, she said the sex education she received was
medically accurate, although it was not comprehensive and many
of her questions were left unanswered. She extended that this
bill asserts that Planned Parenthood is in schools with sinister
motives and to say that Planned Parenthood is indoctrinating
children is completely false, and stated that Planned Parenthood
has is a long history of being committed to teaching free,
comprehensive, and medically accurate sex education so all
youths have the opportunity to make important health decisions
for themselves. This bill, while not getting rid of sex
education, puts unreasonable barriers in front of students and
school districts. She asked the committee to oppose this bill
because it is not in the best interests of students and the
overall health of Alaskans.
4:41:26 PM
LANCE ROBERTS asked that the committee consider that this bill
is about parental rights. He offered that he fought it at the
local level and lost because his assembly believed that
government should be more important than the parents, and that
it should take parental rights from them. He said he was
hopeful the legislature will not make that mistake, which is why
he is glad the bill was sent to this committee "even though it
was sent to this committee to be slaughtered, the bill made it
there so we can see who stands against parents and who is
standing for them." He said he is against the committee
substitute that takes away some of the parent rights from the
original SB 89. He pointed to the provision regarding the
ability to withdraw "them from the awful testing that the kids
have been -- forced to take," and it is extremely hard for
parents to get their children out of that testing. He related
that the opt-in provision was to help parents and give them the
ability to make those decisions for their children that they are
supposed to make. He spoke against the abortion providers doing
the abortion marketing in the schools, and that they desensitize
by teaching promiscuity to create more product. He related that
"They kill the babies and the largest genocide in history and
then they sell those parts to make money." This bill is about
those kind of people not being in the school, it doesn't have
the integrity to be in our schools, and they are not needed in
there. He asked the committee to make the right decision for
the parents and the children and then clarified that Planned
Parenthood doesn't perform mammograms.
4:43:33 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR corrected the record and advised that the
suggestions of the earlier allegations with videos against
Planned Parenthood this summer were found to be false and the
individual who made those videos was indicted for falsifying
that information.
4:44:02 PM
WHITNEY WIGREN voiced her support for SB 89. She is an advocate
for comprehensive sexual education in schools. Sexuality is a
fundamental part of human nature and it is worthy of dignity and
respect; however, abortion promoting organizations such as
Planned Parenthood are not suitable to teach Alaska's children.
Last week she heard from an individual who identified herself as
a (indisc.) Planned Parenthood sexual educator and during her
testimony stated, as others have stated today, abortion is not
part of the curriculum and Ms. Wigren said she found that
contradictory. Under "Activities and Lessons" on the Planned
Parenthood web site there are three 20-30 minutes lesson plans
on abortion with a target audience of high school students. She
stated that it has to be acknowledged that Planned Parenthood is
the nation's leading abortion provider and in turn financially
benefits when its comprehensive sex education fails and teens
end up on the abortion table or swallowing the "abortion pill."
She related that issues have been distorted to the point that
people believe anyone opposing mothers killing their babies is
waging a war on women and, she asked how people can be so
foolish as to believe such a thing. One must be able to
recognize the depravity to which society has sunken when valuing
a baby's life is frowned upon, she stated. Enough is enough,
this is a matter of life and death and she will not stand for
Planned Parenthood to indoctrinate the next generation of
Alaska's children to devalue human life, she advised.
CHAIR SEATON announced that SB 98 would be held until later in
the meeting to accommodate Dr. Humphreys, who was available for
his confirmation hearing.
SB 89-SCHOOLS: PARENT RTS;ABORT. PROVDRS LIMITS
4:50:44 PM
CHAIR SEATON announced that as its final order of business, the
committee would return to CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 89(RLS) am(efd
add), "An Act relating to a parent's right to direct the
education of a child; prohibiting a school district from
contracting with an abortion services provider; prohibiting a
school district from allowing an abortion services provider to
furnish course materials or provide instruction concerning
sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases; relating to physical
examinations for teachers; and providing for an effective date."
4:51:19 PM
CHRISTIN MILLER expressed her support of SB 89, and that she is
in support of proper sexual education in schools but does not
support the education specifically coming from Planned
Parenthood. Not only does she not agree with Planned
Parenthood's content, she opposes its support of abortion in
Alaska and the nation. Parents should have every right to
decide whether or not their children are taught such things
which is why she is in full support of SB 89, she said.
4:52:07 PM
PAMELA SAMASH, Right to Life, Interior Alaska, said she
represents Right to Life, Interior Alaska, her family, and
herself. She advised she is a parent of four daughters, that
she has found a gross lack of transparency in the Planned
Parenthood curriculum, asked how anyone can allow tax dollars to
go to an organization that is hiding information from [parents],
and how can legislators regulate what is being taught as they do
with teachers if it's not transparent. She further asked about
all of the other less controversial alternatives, such as the
CareNet Resource Pregnancy Center and opined that teachers and
parents are capable educators and will support the students,
even in sex education. She referred to the testifiers from
Sitka with awful experiences that shouldn't be ignored. She
advised that these are public school children, they deserve
better than an abortion industry profiting from their sexual
experiences, teaching them their biased values, and they deserve
parents and qualified teachers. She asked that the committee
vote yes and protect children.
4:53:50 PM
ALETA GEER said she supports SB 89, is a grandmother and great
grandmother, and is against Planned Parenthood's involvement
with Alaska's children in any manner whatsoever. Even though,
she agreed it may offer some good services, the major part of
what it does is morally and ethically wrong and that any
allowance of its involvement in educating students is just
saying that what it is doing is okay. She agrees there are
other organizations out there that would be more beneficial and
education is important because she has seen the results of
students not knowing what is going on. She wishes she had been
educated but her family was too shy to even confront the issue.
She related that the schools are focusing so much on sex that
that is all the students seem to be talking about and doing,
rather than focusing on the education of academics. She pointed
out that sex education is important but there is so much more to
it than just the education, which is part of the problem,
because it is emotional.
4:56:16 PM
BUTCH MOORE noted that it is important to consider that there is
a relatively small group of people pushing this bill. The real
effect of this bill was stated by a teacher in Homer at a
previous committee meeting, such that the difference in the opt-
in and opt-out is a huge portion of this bill. He opined they
had 268 students, two of those students opted out and if this
bill passes there will be a mandatory opt-in. He pointed out
that the Homer teacher explained that if 10-20 percent of the
parents are not active with their children, they won't get the
paperwork back to the teacher so the child who desperately needs
the education because they don't have a parent that is teaching
them and being active, those 10-20 percent will not receive the
education. In addition, the teacher mentioned that she will
have to handle 268 pieces of paper. He noted that when the bill
comes up for a vote to consider that parents opposed to this
education have the right to opt their children out. Currently,
the parents expressing concern can opt their children out,
Alaskans do not need this bill. Potentially, the parents that
are not active with their children and do not opt their children
in, those are the children who really need the education because
they may be suffering from abuse. He commented that if the
legislature isolates a single group of people, it opens the door
for future legislation that may also be unconstitutional.
4:59:03 PM
PAM GOODE said she supports SB 89, and that this bill is not
about depriving students of sex education or reproductive
education, this bill is about parental rights and keeping
abortion providers out of the public schools. Specifically, she
said, the discussion is about Planned Parenthood which is the
organization "that just got busted" for selling aborted baby
parts, and she said to Representative Tarr that those videos are
not proven to be false, although people were indicted. Children
know what Planned Parenthood does and they do far more than
educate the children on the reproductive process. These
organizations have no business having access to the children in
Alaska's public schools. In the event a parent supports Planned
Parenthood, they can access that organization on their own and
with their own children, and she asked the committee to do the
right thing and pass the bill out of committee.
5:01:15 PM
CATHY GIRARD urged the committee to vote against SB 89. She
related that in the 1970s she had a health class, but it wasn't
until she was 12 years old that she realized how babies were
made, but she didn't find out in health class. She said she
didn't receive any sexual education from her mother until
menstruation at age 12, which was far too late because her
girlfriends and she were already comparing their nine year old
bodies to the playboy magazines they pilfered from their fathers
and brothers. She related that she grew up in an upper middle
class family with two parents, which is atypical for today.
Even coming from the "best of families," it does not guarantee
medically accurate or age appropriate sexual education. By
luck, she was able to make it through high school and college
without getting pregnant, and because she received her college
education has always been able to financially support herself.
In her mind, SB 89 is a classic unconstitutional example of a
conflict between church and state. If crisis pregnancy centers
or Alaska Right to Life were the organization teaching sexual
education in Alaska public schools, SB 89 and the ongoing anti-
Planned Parenthood bill would never be in front of the committee
as they have been most recently. She advised this is her third
testimony against this bill and she is dumb-founded that the
legislature is taking so much time to dicker over a bill that
will basically strip sexual education at a time when the state's
budget is in crisis. She asked the committee to remember that
the educational services Planned Parenthood provides to schools
are free and are not funded at taxpayer expense, and the cost of
unplanned pregnancies, unwanted children, domestic violence,
date rape, breast cancer, reproductive system cancers, and
sexually transmitted infections don't only come with a personal
cost, but a societal cost. She said to ask the 6,000 parents of
the 3,000 children currently in foster care in Alaska.
5:03:41 PM
ERIC GLATT, Attorney, American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska,
said he is testifying in opposition to SB 89. He referred to
Sections 3 and 5 of the bill which provides that Alaska students
cannot receive high quality, age appropriate, medically accurate
instruction in human sexual health if that instruction is
delivered by a certain class of people. The class of people
identified by the law bears no necessary relationship to the
content of that instruction. As the bill sponsor, Senator
Dunleavy noted before the committee last week, Sections 3 and 5
do not concern themselves with what is taught, but only with who
is teaching. Namely, employees and volunteers of hospitals and
clinic where abortion services are provided. When a bill takes
such an unusual posture the logical question to ask is why, what
legislative purpose is furthered by identifying who teaches in
order to address what students learn. Answering that question
speaks directly to several of the constitutional infirmities the
ACLU has identified in the bill and submitted in written
testimony last week, and several of these were also flagged by
the Legislative Legal and Research Services. Section 3 and 5 of
SB 89 have the appearance of an unconstitutional bill of
attainder, may violate constitutional requirements of
sustentative due process, may violate constitutional
requirements of equal protection, and Section 5 risks
unconstitutionally restricting the right to free speech and
freedom of association. The ACLU also pointed out the great and
avoidable expense Alaska has already incurred in defending
similar unconstitutional laws. For these reasons, the ACLU
urges the committee not to pass SB 89.
5:05:36 PM
MR. GLATT noted that two lawyers testifying last week expressed
different interpretations as to the constitutional infirmities
the ACLU identified. Attorney Alisa Graves, based in Texas
spoke on behalf of a group based in Arizona argued, on behalf of
Alliance Defending Freedom, that when performing an equal
protection analysis the courts would only require that the
legislature have a rational basis for its classification system
and the rational basis is considered a low bar to clear. Ms.
Graves did not share with the committee that the United States
Supreme Court has never found expressions of moral disapproval
to be sufficient to clear the rational basis bar.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked Mr. Glatt to wrap up his testimony.
5:06:25 PM
JAMES SQUYRES advised he is hopeful the committee members
realize they are being manipulated by organized lobby efforts,
and it is their duty to filter down to reality. He said he is
in favor of SB 89, and suggested the members pass the bill out
of committee.
5:07:03 PM
DEENA MITCHELL noted there has been excellent testimony and did
not want to be repetitive, but she definitely appreciated the
focus on good sex education providing information on prevention,
consent, and healthy relationships. Fortunately, she commented,
her children, two girls and one boy, received comprehensive sex
education through a program her church offers and many children
do not have that opportunity. It is very important to teach
children about sexuality and sensuality in an age appropriate
manner, and that opting-in creates a ridiculous barrier for
those children and parents currently have the right to opt-out.
Her church offers sexuality education beginning with
kindergarten, and it teaches children what is a safe touch and
what is not. It is well known that comprehensive sex education
helps to avoid sexual abuse, it delays sexual activity of which
is the only thing proven to delay sexual activity, it prevents
unplanned pregnancies, and consequently abortions. She related
that the name, Planned Parenthood, says it all as it is about
everyone having a planned experience with parenthood, and
referred to the discussions around parental rights and opined
that she is more focused on Alaskan children's rights. Her
children are grown, and she said she feels confident they have
the skills they need, know how to assert themselves, recognize a
healthy relationship, and know how to approach it. Once our
children get to junior high and high school, parents do not have
parental control any longer. She then stressed that she
appreciates Planned Parenthood and its curriculum, as well as
the curriculum her church provides, which is comprehensive, age
appropriate information for students so they are not in the
dark, they can ask anonymous questions and receive medically
accurate information. She asked the committee to oppose SB 89.
5:09:25 PM
CAROL CARMEN said she supports SB 89, is a retired teacher who
received training in health education, and assured the committee
that for many years teachers have taught sex education. The
claim that it is not being provided or that only an abortion
provider can teach it properly is not true. The bill does not
prevent teaching sex education in schools, it only affects who
teaches it. She said she is especially concerned about Planned
Parenthood's fourth grade curriculum as it is not age
appropriate, and in all grade levels it is nothing less than
porn and promotes promiscuity. She said she found it sensible
that the committee would vote to prevent an abortion provider
from teaching in Alaska's public schools due to the alarming
obvious conflict of interest, and that allowing an abortion
provider to teach sex to children and teens begets promiscuity,
which begets unwanted pregnancies and venereal disease, and
provides business to that abortion provider.
5:11:17 PM
KAREN PERRY said she has been a certified Alaska teacher for 30
plus years and spoke in support of the First Amendment of the
Constitution of the United States for all parents. She supports
SB 89, and noted that she has listened to the testimonies and
that "much of it is schizophrenic. This bill is not about STPs
(sic) and etcetera -- it is not about the right of Planned
Parenthood to be in our public schools." This bill is about
parents exercising their First Amendment rights under the law of
the land, and if the parent's religion believes that
homosexuality and premarital sex is a sin, the schools have no
right to teach children that those are normal and acceptable
behaviors. If the committee does not pass this bill it is
setting itself up for a multitude of lawsuits and she asked
whether the committee wants to waste more state money fighting
the lawsuits. Everyone has First Amendments rights and people
do not need to have these rights usurped by the committee,
Planned Parenthood, or any other entity. She stated that the
[parents] should not have their children exposed to an agency
whose main goal is to profit financially by destroying, burning,
and ripping children apart from limb to limb for its own
financial gain. Schools are required to have highly qualified
certified teachers to provide instructions to students and they
can do so capably. Also, if any program's fault is for parents
to have an opt-in, the program should really be to not have to
opt-out. Since tax payers pay for schools with tax dollars,
schools cannot use it to teach against a religious belief, and
requested that the committee pass the bill out of committee for
a full vote of both bodies.
5:13:36 PM
WILLIAM DEATON, Eighth Grade Student, Cordova Junior/Senior High
School, said he supports SB 89, and is in favor of his parents'
ability to opt him out of sex education. He said he is against
Planned Parenthood being able to teach his family, friends or
him about abortion and sex education because it is a clear
conflict of interest. He presumed everyone knew what was going
on this summer with the videos of Planned Parenthood selling
fetus tissue and he argued to Representative Tarr that those
videos were not proven wrong, although people were indicted.
Planned Parenthood kills children when they are in the womb
every day and it is sad to hear about that, he said.
5:14:58 PM
TOM BRAUND said he supports SB 89 because parents have an
absolute right to control who teaches their children and how,
especially about moral sex education and values. Specifically,
abortion providers and sex education companies have an agenda
different from most parents he knows, they need to stay out of
schools, and these companies should never be supported by public
money. He advised that no one should assume that because a
parent doesn't opt into something that it has authority to opt
those children into those programs for them. Teaching any sex
education in schools, especially in co-ed class, promotes sexual
interest which leads to trouble, he said.
5:16:07 PM
MARCI HAWKINS said she is from the other side of Sutton, "the
ignored constituents from Senator Dunleavy's district." She
stated she is opposed to SB 89, and that in Sutton parents are
allowed to opt-in or opt-out as her sister just opted-out her
niece. She pointed to an issue in the bill of taking control
away from Alaska's school boards on the subject of curriculum,
and if they are taking away this control who will decide what
goes in. She further pointed out that if the state takes
control away from Alaskan local elected officials, such as
school boards, it need to provide that curriculum and how to pay
for it. In the event a person does not like what the school
district members are doing, vote them out of office. She
described this bill as non-productive and certainly would like
to see something next session that says the parents have the
right to opt-in or opt-out, but the rest of the bill will be
wasted money. She expressed, "Representative Tarr, you go
girl."
5:18:14 PM
GRETCHEN NELSON said she believes the legislature should be
focusing on extremely important information and not less
information for our young adults to live successful and healthy
lives and make good decisions. As a parent of two young
daughters, and a teacher with 30 plus experience in the
Anchorage School District, she remarked that she has experienced
firsthand the value of comprehensive medically accurate
information regarding sexual assault and responsible
reproductive health education. Her daughters were enrolled in
one of the most important elective classes of their high school
careers, entitled "Human Sexuality and Healthy Relationships,"
and on numerous occasions they have told her of the non-
judgmental, unbiased medically accurate information on
reproductive health and relationships they received in the
class. The class was not on abortion as that is not part of the
curriculum, and this committee is talking about accurate
information which is important, not on abortion, she stressed.
Accurate information has definitely led to less promiscuity,
less abortions, less unplanned pregnancies in other countries,
etcetera. She related that she is opposed to this bill
prohibiting Planned Parenthood from providing the accurate
information that she knows it provides, and studies show that
comprehensive sex education is effective at reducing STDs and
can delay sexual activity. As college students, she pointed out
that she has been alarmed and scared for her daughters' safety
with the high rate of assaults on college campuses, and the more
information students have on sexual violence they will be more
likely to make a report when it occurs and possibly avoid it at
all costs. She asked that the committee oppose this bill.
5:20:27 PM
PAUL D. KENDALL said he wanted to voice an opinion and not make
a stand either way, and he has no conflict of interest either
sexually or by monetary gain. He expressed concern that "we as
men" have a lot of serious business coming at a very rapid
escalating pace, and when he sees moments like this he becomes
concerned. He asked the committee that from now on when it has
moments like this he would like to see all the subjects that
school teaches. He opined that the public needs to see what is
being designed in the context of what the school district is
doing, because it appears that "we are taking away the
children's age of innocence. Not only that, but we are taking
away accountability for the female who wants to breed at will
and want or desire," as opposed to being responsible for her
fundamental drive or will in our society and the universe, for
that matter. Mr. Kendall continued as follows:
So, what I'd like to see you men do, is I'd like to
see you -- maybe you could leave Juneau -the land of
meditation down there - and come back early and let
the women herd up and give them some kind of
instructions like the following: Number one, if
you're going to breed at will and want, you're going
to be responsible for whatever comes out - period.
Number two, you're not going to continue to titillate
our young males to a mere irresponsible state of mind
and then have them divide and create all kinds of
crimes, like domestic violence and violence of other
men. The third thing is that I think the women are
going to come back and tell us how we're going to
handle the females who simply want to breed, breed,
and breed and then try to encapsulate or capture a
male into some role of ... providing them the
substance under which they can get more and more
financial support."
MR. KENDALL said he is not proposing burkas or chastity belts...
5:22:46 PM
CHAIR SEATON closed public testimony on SB 89. He noted that
the committee received documents from Cordova, the Cordova
School Board, Cordova school board members, Delta Greely School
Board, and principals in other areas reporting on the responses
they received within their districts, and all are opposed to the
passage of SB 89.
5:23:38 PM
REPRESENTATIVE VAZQUEZ said the bill does not prohibit or ban
the teaching of sex education, but it empowers parents to direct
the education of their children. She depicted Planned
Parenthood as though it has an automatic right to Alaska's
children and an automatic right to teach sex education, and
after reviewing its materials offered that there are troubling
patterns. She referred to Planned Parenthood's website, within
the educator's toolbox, it discusses abortion and the morning
after pill in the teen-age section. She expressed shock in what
she reviewed because the materials are culturally insensitive,
insulting, and degrading to traditional cultures, the
traditional Muslim cultures, Hispanic, Southeast Asian, and
African cultures. She opined she was insulted and embarrassed
because some of the material was graphic, it appears to condone
premarital sex which is contradictory and insensitive to many
cultures and religious groups. For example, she said the
digital tools for teens are games and quiz "Starting to feel
comfortable in your relationship - keep a good thing going worry
free," and it goes into different types of contraceptives, and
that tone of voice and wording leads her to believe that it
encourages premarital sex and in some families and religions
that is not appropriate. Included on the Planned Parenthood web
site is "How to talk with your child about sexuality - A
parent's guide," which will be embarrassing to herself and
others because "according to this guy" within the ages of birth-
two years the baby should be allowed to enjoy masturbation and
it was normal to allow the child to masturbate within three-five
years. A person can disagree whether it is correct or not, but
it is totally insensitive to religious groups and many ethnic
groups. Within the Planned Parenthood website "Filling the
gap," she related that the site discusses abortion "and they
have ele -- elementary school, I guess talking about abortion in
elementary school and middle school and junior high school and
high school." She advised she grew up in a different culture
and sees this as an invitation to certain behaviors that are not
acceptable to many Americans.
5:28:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL related that with respect to Vice Chair
Vazquez' embarrassment, it is a common emotion especially when
parents are dealing with sex education issues with their
children. He referred to comments by a testifier who grew up in
an upper middle class home with two parents that was better off
financially than others, and he did not receive any sex
education from his parents. This is not uncommon at all in that
many have grown up in such environments where their parents or a
single parent didn't talk about chlamydia or STDs, although when
he was a kid they didn't have HIV, or internet sex. Sexual
topics were not discussed, which doesn't mean it shouldn't be
discussed and he related that he respects Vice Chair Vasquez'
respect for other cultures because it is important. Other
cultures do not want girls to go to school, and he asked whether
that means there should be no discussion about girls going to
school, or not talk about cultures that do not allow women to
vote. There are other cultures with different values that are
different than ours, and "we have our own culture" which is
important to address. The issue of Planned Parenthood in
schools, it sounds like there are 3.5 educators in the state,
they are invited into the schools, parents can opt-out - this is
not about parental rights because parents can opt-out. He
related that there are many important facts kids need to learn
and if the school curriculum had staff and was providing the
education that would be great, but it sounds like the schools
need help. According to testimony from the students, he
related, it sounds like they appreciate getting some of this
education from an outside person with their teacher in the room,
but they do not want to ask their homeroom teacher about
masturbation, as it might be embarrassing and if someone else
comes in to teach it may make it easier. He referred to the
testifier who commented on the availability of porn on the
internet and that is an important issue especially, not only in
the physical sexual relationships people are inquiring about,
but also the emotional side of things. He related that what is
seen on the internet is not accurate or healthy in either of
those aspects, especially the emotional side. Curriculum about
healthy relationships, consent, boundaries, and such are very
important to learn and if kids are only seeing one side of it,
they need the well-rounded side of a healthy relationship, when
to say no, and what proper relationships are.
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL said he thinks "getting good education to
kids at different ages about different things" is good, and he
said none of the testimony sounds like "abortion is being
indoctrinated or promiscuity or any of these things." He
offered that it sounds like more of an objection on other
aspects of what Planned Parenthood does. According to the
testimonies, the education and curriculum being provided in the
schools by Planned Parenthood is well received by teachers,
parents, students, and he reminded the members that parents can
opt-out.
5:32:29 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TALERICO offered that he supports the bill and
that he was raised during a time where the certified teachers in
the classroom absolutely had to do all of the curriculum all of
the time, and he continues to support certified teachers
delivering everything in the classrooms. There are always
strong feelings on this particular subject and [society] will
never get away from that, but he said he wants people to know he
supports the bill. He related that it is tough for parents and
he has two children, ages 37 and 39, the parent is the most
important person in their child's life, and another person
cannot be brought in and think they will replace the parent.
The parent can be the most important and most influential person
in their children's lives, and he offered that these are
difficult conversations, but to bear down and have these
difficult conversations. He related that the parent will feel
better because he's been there and done it and it wasn't easy,
but in his experience it has its rewards. Thankfully, he
remarked, his spouse helped him find the courage to help him
through it. Parents are incredibly influential in their child's
life and if the parent believes something is important, their
child will think it is important as well. He suggested to
parents, whether the bill is advanced or not, to have those
heart to heart important conversations with their children. He
related that his son is mortified with the statistics in Alaska
of sexual assault and abuse, and domestic violence because he
remembers their conversations of how to treat the opposite sex,
and that it was his job to protect the opposite sex. He offered
his appreciation to the students who have testified because it
is a sensitive subject.
5:36:55 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR offered that she opposes this bill for
several reasons, such that during the 20 years she has been in
Alaska it has led the nation in rates of domestic violence and
sexual assault and she does not want that to be true 20 years
from now. She described these as issues that disproportionally
impact women, although certainly men are affected by domestic
violence and sexual assault, but as a woman it is a personal
issue and it is time to remove the silence and discussed these
issues and having these educational materials in the schools is
a piece of that. Research demonstrates without question that
sexuality education works and it can delay sexual activity, such
that the national campaign to prevent unplanned teen-age
pregnancy performed focus group research with teen-agers and
asked them about their decision making related to sexual
activity, and the teen-agers quoted from seeing reality shows,
such as "Teen Mom," and "16 and Pregnant" that the shows
informed them about the real hardships associated with teen-age
pregnancy and made them rethink their actions. Information is
out there and that kids will get information from different
sources, and to the extent parents can have some influence over
them getting good information it has been shown that this
culturally appropriate, age appropriate, medically accurate,
non-judgmental, unbiased information can help students in
obtaining the information they need. It is important that more
education is offered at a young age, she stressed, because
within her 20 years of teaching college students regarding
reproductive health, physiology and human anatomy, and within
her numerous years of assisting in sponsoring healthy sexuality
week at UAA, the questions that young adults are asking are
alarming. The lack of information they have about their bodies
and how their bodies work is alarming, they need serious
biological information to make good, healthy decisions and
understand what is going on in their bodies. She related that a
health educator had an online question and answer service, and
the two of them discussed the type of questions being asked of
young adults on their own who could live with someone or be
sexually active. Unfortunately, if they have not received
education prior to college the chances of them making bad
decisions or getting themselves into unsafe or uncomfortable
situation is that much greater. Strikingly, she commented,
discussion of the bill has been situated around the idea of
parental rights, none of which are being infringed upon right
now as every parent has the right to remove their student from
any class they object to and apparently a number of parents are
not taking advantage of that opportunity, if that is the real
problem here.
5:40:48 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR expressed confusion as to why there is
tension here, why there are certain people who feel like giving
students medically accurate, age appropriate information is
somehow taking away from their role as a parent. She related
that she advocates for a partnership with the family and the
community, so that the anatomy and biological information the
student gets at school is culturally appropriate, age
appropriate, medically accurate, non-judgmental, unbiased, and
then the students go home and talk to their parents about the
information they received which is where the parent has the
conversation about morality and how that information is applied
in someone's life. She said she would hope that Alaskans would
come together as a community and all talk about it more, and
certainly if this was taking place Alaska would not continuously
lead the nation in domestic violence, sexual assault, child
sexual abuse, and STDs. People will hopefully, she related,
come together as a community to build partnerships that include
the information a student receives at school, coupled with the
parental conversation about family values, cultural values,
viewpoints, and how that information is applied. April is
sexual assault and child abuse prevention month and she asked
that people determine how to take that information and change
the cultural norms around violence in Alaska. The statement
that it is unconstitutional is an issue that should be
considered, but from the public health perspective which is the
focus of this committee, this does not do anything to advance
its efforts on preventing some of these terrible health outcomes
in Alaska. She advised she will be a no vote on the bill.
5:43:05 PM
CHAIR SEATON stated that from the public health data the
committee received, at least three to five to seven times more
STDs occur outside of the areas this education is taking place,
the Gulf Coast and Southeast Alaska. Therefore, he pointed out,
as far as public health it appears when students live in areas
that are not receiving the education it has not been as
beneficial. The committee reviewed the data and the number of
public health nurses providing some sex education, and within
the last year nine public health nurse positions have been cut
resulting in a reduction in that workforce. With regard to
overriding local control for local school boards and exempting
materials needed for public health where it had been decided
locally to invite people in, the committee checked with school
districts and Planned Parenthood educators, who advised the
teacher is always in the room, and he related that he wants to
be certain the members understand that the certified teacher is
always in the room. There is information on the web, and
committee investigated some National Planned Parenthood data
that is not being used in Alaskan schools, he advised. Not only
that, he said, the data is selected by the school board,
principal, and the teachers of what lessons would be taught.
People, on their own time doing something else, cannot be in a
public school according to the bill and, he related, it is
problematic because freedom of speech and freedom of association
are broadly implicated, and he is not supporting this bill.
5:45:53 PM
REPRESENTATIVE VAZQUEZ moved to report [CS FOR SENATE BILL NO.
89(RLS) am(efd add)] out of committee with individual
recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR objected.
5:46:09 PM
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Vazquez and
Talerico voted in favor of the motion to move CS FOR SENATE BILL
NO. 89(RLS) am(efd add) out of committee with individual
recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes.
Representatives Stutes, Wool, Tarr, Foster, and Seaton voted
against it. Therefore, CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 89(RLS) am(efd
add) failed to pass from the House Health, Education and Social
Services Standing Committee by a vote of 2-5.
CHAIR SEATON thanked the committee and testifiers, and he
especially thanked the students who took their time to testify.
He specified that whether members agreed with their testimonies
or not, the students are actively engaged in civics and the
committee appreciates their perspective.