Wisconsin House Approves Abstinence Bill, Heads to Gov. Doyle 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 20, 2006
Madison, WI (LifeNews.com) — The Wisconsin state House approved legislation that would require sex ed programs in public schools to promote abstinence as the preferred sexual behavior for teens. The bill now heads to pro-abortion Governor Jim Doyle, who has not taken a position on it.
The measure requires primary and secondary schools spend more time teaching abstinence education than other methods of preventing pregnancy.
The Senate approved Senate Bill 286 last year and the House recently signed off on it.
"I think it’s very, very important that young people hear that message and hear it loud and clear: if you want to be healthy and you want to be 100 percent healthy, the only way is abstinence," Republican Sen. Mary Lazich told the Badger Herald newspaper.
However, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin and NARAL both oppose the bill.
NARAL director Kelda Helen Roys claimed the bill "doesn’t tell people any of the medically accurate facts that they need to protect their own health."
PPWI vice president Lisa Boyce told the newspaper that the state should provide comprehensive teaching including both abstinence education and contraceptive use.
However, the state legislature rejected amendments to the bill from abortion advocates encouraging both teaching approaches.
The measure heads to Governor Jim Doyle, a Democrat, who has not announced a position on the bill. Pro-abortion groups hope he will veto the measure.
