Wisconsin governor signs abstinence law

MADISON, Wis., May 24 (UPI) -- Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has signed legislation that requires sex education programs in public schools to promote abstinence to teenagers.

Supporters of the bill signed on Tuesday said sex education classes had failed to reduce teen pregnancy and rates of sexually transmitted disease, while opponents argued teens should be offered contraception.

The new law, which is effective July 1, would make promotion of abstinence before marriage the favored curriculum in sex education classes in public schools in the state.

The law does not require that abstinence be promoted exclusively, state Sen. Mary Lazich, the Republican author of the bill, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"If a school chooses to offer sex education, it is important that the message is loud and clear that abstinence is the only way to be safe and healthy," she said in a statement.