SB 1619 Passes Senate Committee — Contact Your State Senator

How did they vote?

Yesterday, the Illinois Senate Public Health committee passed SB 1619 by a party line vote of 6 to 4. It now moves to the full senate. Look at the list below to see how the members of this committee voted.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to contact your state senator today and ask him or her to vote against SB 1619, the so-called “Personal Responsibility Education Program Act,” which more appropriately could be called the “Condom Training Sex Ed Bill.” SB 1619 is backed by Illinois Planned Parenthood Council, Illinois ACLU and a host of other liberal groups, which are engaged in a massive lobbying push for this bill.

You can also call the switchboard in Springfield at (217) 782-2000 and ask for your state senator. If you don’t know who your state senator is, click HERE to look up your elected officials. Or call the IFI office at (708) 781-9328 and we will help you get that information.

SB 1619 Senate Public Health Committee Vote
Yea — Senator William Delgado (D-Chicago)

Yea — Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago)

Yea — Senator Susan Garrett (D-Highwood)

Yea — Senator Michael Noland (D-Elgin)

Yea — Senator Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge) substituting for Sen. Schoenberg

Yea — Senator Heather A. Steans (D-Chicago)

No — Senator Dave Syverson (R-Rockford)

No — Senator. Shane Cultra (R-Onarga)

No — Senator Christine J. Johnson (R-Sycamore)

No — Senator Carole Pankau (R-Bloomingdale)

Background

Parents do not want their children being taught the “how to’s” of sexual activity, especially when that activity puts their children’s lives and health in jeopardy. Most parents are fully aware that Planned Parenthood and its liberal allies are actually encouraging sexual activity with SB 1619.

In 2005, the ACLU of Illinois mailed a letter to more than thirteen hundred school superintendents across Illinois complaining that some schools in Illinois are providing their students with “dangerous, inaccurate sex education information.”

What “inaccurate sex education information,” you may ask? Well, according to the ACLU of Illinois, schools that teach abstinence-only-until-marriage “deny students crucial information they need to prevent pregnancy and protect them from sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs).”

Yes, you read that right. The ACLU of Illinois holds the opinion that by promoting no sex until marriage, somehow schools increase student health risks. Of course this makes no sense. Abstinence, when adhered to, will never result in pregnancy and will never spread STDs.

Moreover, studies have shown that “A greater number of students in abstinence programs correctly identified STDs than did students in control groups,” and “a greater number of students in abstinence programs reported correctly that birth control pills do not prevent STDs than did students in control groups.” (For more information, please read Laurie Higgins’ article, Abstinence Education Works.)

The ACLU and Planned Parenthood, which also happens to be the nation’s biggest abortion provider, would rather use your tax dollars and public school resources to promote and encourage young people to experiment with all types of risky sexual behavior, including oral sex and homosexuality. (In 2010, Illinois received $2.23 million from the new federal Personal Responsibility Education Program for “comprehensive” sex education programs.)

According to organizations like Planned Parenthood, it’s necessary and appropriate to indoctrinate young impressionable students with ideas about dangerous behaviors, but abstention from discussing dangerous sexual behavior is misleading.

In contrast, just look at the recently released data by the Centers for Disease Control that strongly suggests that abstinence education works. According to the 2006-2008 survey results released earlier this month, the majority of teens have never had any kind of sexual relations with any partner.

The failures of “safe sex” are abundantly clear: unwanted pregnancies, abortion, disease, and devastating emotional ramifications. Abstinence until marriage is the only dependable safe-sex message Illinois policy-makers should be promoting in our public schools. There are no teenage pregnancy epidemics or STD outbreaks when abstinence is practiced. So, why not promote it?