Planned Parenthood would be kicked out of the classroom under a bill moving forward in the House.
Rep. Therese Sander’s (R-Moberly) bill places new regulations on abortion clinics, making them comply with the same regulations that ambulatory surgery centers do. It creates the "Missouri Alternatives to Abortion Services Program". The program will counsel pregnant women, continuing for a year after birth, assisting them to carry their fetus to term instead of having an abortion. It also will assist women in caring for their children or in putting their children up for adoption.
But the portion of HCS HB 1055 that created the most heated exchanges during House floor debate centered on who should teach sex education in the classroom and how it should be taught.
The bill prohibits any abortion provider from teaching sex education. Sander makes no bones about what she is targeting, stating, "We don’t have to rely on Planned Parenthood which is in the business of killing our children."
HCS HB 1055 also allows school districts to offer sex education consistent with the federal abstinence program. Rep. Beth Low (D-Kansas City) says teaching abstinence-only fails to take into account the real world of teen-agers, "Ignorance is not a form of birth control."
Low says some parents don’t do a good job of talking to their children about sex and it falls to the schools to provide comprehensive sex education. The bill needs another positive vote to move to the Senate.