{"id":235193,"date":"2010-01-27T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-27T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rhrealitycheck.org\/blog\/2010\/01\/26\/today-is-day-turn-light-wisconsin-schools"},"modified":"2010-01-27T12:53:09","modified_gmt":"2010-01-27T17:53:09","slug":"updated-time-to-turn-the-lights-on-in-wisconsin-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/235193","title":{"rendered":"UPDATED: Time to Turn the Lights on in Wisconsin Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n\tUPDATE: The Healthy Youth Act passed out of committee<\/a> this morning in the Wisconsin State Senate, and will now go on to the full Senate for a vote.\u00a0 We will keep you updated.\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nLike states across the country, Wisconsin is facing a
\npublic health crisis<\/a> that needs a statewide solution.\n<\/p>\n

\nAccording to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services
\n(DHS), sexually transmitted diseases among Wisconsin teens ages 15 to 19 increased
\n53 percent between 1997 and 2007. Twenty percent of new HIV infections in
\nWisconsin are diagnosed in young people ages 15 to 24.\u00a0 <\/span>And at the same time, the dramatic 10 year drop in teen
\nchildbearing has halted.\n<\/p>\n

\nWith 28 health centers throughout Wisconsin, Planned
\nParenthood of Wisconsin is the state\u2019s largest and oldest reproductive health
\nprovider.\u00a0 <\/span>We see patients every day
\nwho do not have the knowledge to prevent the STD they have contracted or
\nprevent the unintended pregnancy that they now confront.\u00a0 <\/span>This is an outrage. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThere is no dispute that abstinence is the most effective
\nway to avoid unintended pregnancy and STDs.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>But the reality
\nis that 45 percent of Wisconsin high school students self-report being sexually
\nactive and only 61 percent said they used a condom during their last sexual
\nencounter, according to a 2008 DHS study. \u00a0<\/span>We need to do more for our the sake of our kids\u2019 futures. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nToday the Wisconsin state Senate Committee on Education is voting
\non the Healthy Youth Act<\/a>,
\na much needed first step in teaching young people the skills and information
\nthey need to make safe, healthy choices now and throughout their lives.\u00a0 <\/span>The Healthy Youth Act was passed in by
\nthe full state Assembly in November, but had not moved in the Senate\u2014until
\ntoday.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Healthy Youth Act ensures
\nthat the most current standards of sex education are being taught and that
\npublic schools are using programs proven to reduce teen pregnancy and STD
\nrates.\u00a0 <\/span>The bill updates the core
\nelements of what a sex education program must include if offered in Wisconsin
\nand does away with ineffective abstinence-only policies. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nTo most Wisconsinites, this bill is about common sense, a
\nmuch-needed first step in ensuring more students in our state have access to
\nlife-saving health information.\u00a0
\n<\/span>Eighty-seven percent of voters in Wisconsin, including people from all
\npolitical persuasions, support teaching youth accurate information about
\npregnancy and disease prevention.\n<\/p>\n

\nWhat\u2019s more, a broad coalition supports the Healthy Youth
\nAct, including the United Way of Greater Milwaukee, the Wisconsin Public Health
\nAssociation and the Wisconsin Association of School Nurses.\u00a0 <\/span>These organizations are working with
\nstudents on the front lines and they know that evidence-based, comprehensive
\nsexuality education is one important part of a much needed state-wide approach
\nto help youth avoid unintended pregnancy and disease.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe few groups opposing the Healthy Youth Act oppose contraceptive use<\/a>
\nnot just by teens, but by adults, too.\u00a0
\n<\/span>These individuals ignore undisputed data and distort both current law
\nand the Healthy Youth Act to make their case.\u00a0 <\/span>Their effort to defeat this legislation is unlike anything
\nwe\u2019ve seen before. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nConstituents have threatened the children of supportive
\nlegislators.\u00a0 <\/span>Capitol Police were
\ncalled to the Assembly hearing because of the
\nconduct of an opponent<\/a> who apparently mistook the hearing for a Tea Party
\nrally. \u00a0<\/span>But it\u2019s not just average
\ncitizens engaged in this abhorrent behavior. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nA document circulated in the Capitol by a legislative aide
\ncalls the Healthy Youth Act \u201ca tax-payer funded bailout of Wisconsin\u2019s abortion
\nindustry.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>The document alleges the
\nbill would \u201cpromote homosexuality to captive teen audiences\u201d and establish
\n\u201ctaxpayer-funded sex clinics in Wisconsin schools.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>At public hearings on the bill, legislative aides have
\nphotographed prominent supporters of the legislation and coordinated
\nthe harassment<\/a> of these supporters with local activists.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nTheir efforts have been relentless.\u00a0 <\/span>In the week following the Senate
\nhearing, a Milwaukee
\npriest supporting the legislation<\/a> received between three and eight phone
\ncalls a day from people outside of his parish condemning him for his support of
\nthe Healthy Youth Act.\u00a0 <\/span>Anti-choice
\nextremists have demanded business leaders pull funding of a sexual assault
\ntreatment facility whose social worker testified in support of the bill.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn spite of the small but coordinated effort to keep teens
\nin the dark, supporters of the Healthy Youth Act will continue to send a clear
\nmessage to lawmakers that it\u2019s time to turn the light on in Wisconsin schools.\u00a0 <\/span>And with so much at stake, it\u2019s time
\nthey listen to us.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATE: The Healthy Youth Act passed out of committee this morning in the Wisconsin State Senate, and will now go on to the full Senate for a vote.\u00a0 We will keep you updated. Like states across the country, Wisconsin is facing a public health crisis that needs a statewide solution. According to the Wisconsin Department […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4704,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4704"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}