The Senate Committee on Health will be hearing SGB 777 on Wednesday, February 11 at 3 pm in Conference Room 016 at the Capitol.I am attaching an edited hearing notice so you can get the necessary information for submitting testimony.
SB 777 is the duplicate of the two House bills we testified about last week. It seeks to refuse any Federal funding of abstinence-only education and states that only “medically accurate” information be given in sexuality ed programs.
I read the testimony from last week: the Dept. of Ed does not accept those funds anyway. BUT, the Dept. of Health supports Title V funding. The DOH testimony stated that the bill is not necessary since “abstinence-only audiences have access to state-funded “comprehensive” sexuality programs.
Here are some suggestions for your testimony:
Be brief – make it easy to read (maybe double-space). If you can attend the hearing and give oral testimony when they read your name, you cannot just read what you submitted. They will ask you to summarize your points. Try to add something you didn’t write.
1. Let’s take the bill’s supporters to task for trying to CENSOR other viewpoints since kids already have access to the other information.
2. Reading the testimony: supporters cite the high rates of teen pregnancy, low rate of condom usage, “Hawaii has the nation’s 6th highest rate of Chlamydia infection.” [Planned Parenthood testimony on HB 330]
Since our abstinence programs are so new, it is the so-called “comprehensive “ sex ed programs that are failures.
3. Say outright that the claims about the failure of abstinence programs are LIES. Legislators need to hear this up-front so it is in their minds when they hear the supporters.
Forwarded by Carol White
Download the Hearing Notice Here
No comments:
Post a Comment