AUSTIN, Texas, March 6 (UPI) -- A proposed bill in the Texas Senate, banning sex education material provided by Planned Parenthood, drew spirited debate at a hearing.
Speakers Tuesday at the Senate Education Committee debate on a bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Ken Paxton accused Planned Parenthood, a non-profit family planning organization, of attempting to force school districts to abide by unneeded restrictions on teaching, the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman reported.
Supporters of the ban also were critical of Planned Parenthood's alleged encouragement of abortion and sex outside of marriage, one speaker, Renate Sims of Round Rock, Texas, saying, "If teenagers consistently viewed sex as something to be saved for marriage, Planned Parenthood would lose abortion business."
Anne Newman, of the Women's Wellness Coalition of Texas, pointed to advice, not appropriate for schools, on the organization's website, saying, "On safer sex, one of the questions is, 'How can I have safer sex with my sex toys?' Now, I ask you, do you want your children doing that?"
Sarah Wheat, of planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, pointed out in an interview with the newspaper her organization does not offer a sex education curriculum.
"If there's a program where Planned Parenthood helps educators, it's one where they were specifically invited by the school district or the school. It's the school district that sets the guidelines for what materials are approved," Wheat said.
