Dear Editor:
Do you know what they are teaching our children?
On Jan. 28, 2010, the Healthy Youth Act, often referred to as the “Sex Ed Bill,” was passed by the Wisconsin legislature and signed by Governor Doyle. Since then, several Concerned Parents And Citizens (CPAC) started doing their homework. After reading the bill their concerns grew deeper. The main authors of the bill, Taylor and Grigsby, were supported by Planned Parenthood (PP), the largest abortion provider in the state. Family Planning Health Service (FPHS), whose mode of operations, philosophies and goals are identical to PP, has their corporate office in Wausau, WI and is one of nine FPHS clinics in Wisconsin. Our underage children can receive contraception and be referred to PP for abortions without parental consent or knowledge at FPHS. Director of FPHS, Lon Newman, lobbied heavily for this bill. PP receives $11 million of our tax dollars annually, $5.8 million of that is from the Family Planning Waiver, which is Wisconsin’s Teen Birth Control Program serviced by FPHS.
Within a matter of a few weeks and minimal effort, the petition that was circulating around the community requesting our school to opt out of the mandate to allow the community time to study and learn what this meant for us, generated 315 signatures. Open records revealed there were only 14 individuals who supported it and yet the Board of Education voted 5-4 in favor of moving forward with the mandate, ignoring the overwhelming response to stop, slow down and allow us to do our due diligence.
The children in the 10th grade, who have their Health class in the first semester, will be taught this ideology as early as Jan. 6, 2011 in the Human Growth and Development unit. All the other classes will be taught in the spring. Are your moral values and ideologies being taught to our communities’ children under the mandated curriculum?
We will be sharing information regarding this issue and showing a DVD called Stop Planned Parenthool. Chose from one of the following dates and times: Nov. 29 at 6:30 p.m., Nov. 30 at 7 p.m., Dec. 2 at 6:30 p.m., Dec. 7 at 7 p.m., Dec. 9 at 6:30 p.m., Dec. 13 at 6:30 p.m., and Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. We will meet in the Youth Room of St. Francis Xavier Church, 1708 E. 10th St., Merrill. Enter through Door 3 in the northeast corner. We will also be showing the Stop PP DIVD at the Cosmo Theater on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 10 a.m. There will be no charge at the Cosmo. Because of content matter, all meetings are for adults only.
The future health of our children depends on you and your choice to study and make an informed decision. Please invest a couple hours of your time to do your due diligence. Every child is assumed opted in and that the parents/guardians agree with this agenda unless they opt their child out. We encourage all community members to attend.
Respectfully,
Concerned Parents and Citizens of the Merrill School District
Oliver Burrows, consultant; Karen Cournaya; Mary Litschauer
Merrill