Thunder Mountain High School senior Kyler Romme spoke out against Senate Bill 191 during public testimony Thursday.

Thunder Mountain High School senior Kyler Romme spoke out against Senate Bill 191 during public testimony Thursday.

Public weighs in almost 7:1 against Planned Parenthood ban in public schools

The public spoke out overwhelmingly against a bill that would restrict abortion providers like Planned Parenthood from teaching or providing resources in Juneau schools.

By the Empire’s count, 48 members of the public opposed Senate Bill 191 while seven supported it during more than two hours of public testimony Thursday afternoon at the Capitol.

Thursday was the first opportunity for public testimony on SB 191, sponsored by Sen. Mike Dunleavy, R-Wasilla — and the public showed up in force. Almost every chair in the Senate Education Committee room was filled, many with Juneau teenagers.

“I think it’s really appropriate to acknowledge how many teens are here,” said Thunder Mountain High School senior Deanna Hobbs during her two-minute long testimony to legislators. Hobbs is part of Teen Council, a peer education group of Planned Parenthood.

“A lot of you may think that maybe it’s for extra credit or that we had to pressure them. All I had to say was, ‘Hey, have you heard about this bill that wants to keep Planned Parenthood out of the schools?’ And they said, ‘What? That can’t be a thing. How do we fight this?’ So they’re here,” Hobbs said.

“I just want to say this bill is crazy. It really is absolutely crazy,” Douglas resident and parent Lisa EaganLagerquist said. “How many of you have heard a Planned Parenthood presentation?”

When none of the senators on the five-member Senate Education Committee indicated they had, EaganLagerquist continued, “Can you really say something shouldn’t be in schools when you haven’t even heard it?”

“As a student in the Juneau School District, I’ve only received hetero-normative sexual education,” Kyler Romme, a TMHS senior, said. “As an LGBT youth in Alaska, the only time I’ve experienced proper inclusive sexual education is though my peers in the Juneau Teen Council and the Planned Parenthood facilitator.”

During her testimony, homeschool parent Laura Powers said it’s her job to pick curricula most beneficial to her children.

“When picking a curriculum for my two daughters, I turn to Planned Parenthood because of their unbiased and medically accurate education,” Powers said.

Committee member Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak said, “I have to admit I’m totally ignorant of either Planned Parenthood or how the education takes place in schools, but I guess the concern I have is that the objection seems to be that Planned Parenthood also teaches abortion.”

Stevens asked if the Planned Parenthood curriculum dealt with abortion.

Alyson Curry, testifying on behalf of Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii, said Planned Parenthood’s curricula is developed using evidenced-based information from sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mayo Clinic and the National Network of STD Clinical Prevention Training Centers.

“We absolutely do not teach abortion curriculum in schools,” Curry said.

“When we are invited into the classroom, we are not there as representatives of a business, and we do not recruit patients. We deliver healthcare in our clinics and education in the classroom,” she said.

Curry added her disappointment that the committee would “threaten the livelihood of teachers and healthcare providers” and limit student access to quality education “in order to score political points because of its objection to abortion.”

Curry was referring to the part of SB 191 that would fine an employee or representative of an abortion services provider or affiliate $5,000 for violating the restriction, and penalize a violating teacher or school board member by taking away state funding.

Bill sponsor Sen. Dunleavy clarified, “My motivation for doing this is not to score political points. There are a number of folks in the state of Alaska that have an issue with what’s occurring. That’s why this bill is coming forward.”

In an interview with the Empire after the hearing, Dunleavy confirmed that he hasn’t been to any Planned Parenthood classroom presentations on sex ed, but had heard about them from others who had.

Other testimony opposing SB 191 came from more teens, young adults, college students, teachers, parents and other concerned members of the public.

Four of the seven members of the public who testified in support of the bill spoke from the Sitka Legislative Information Office.

“I have been hearing so many people say over and over again that the supporters of SB 191 don’t want sex ed, don’t want kids to be educated about STDS, don’t want healthy relationship training. But this is all so false,” said Julie Stroemer. “There are armies of educated professionals who can teach this without Planned Parenthood’s influence and control.”

Calling in from Fairbanks, Dorothy McGilvary said she supports blocking Planned Parenthood from teaching sexual education in the schools.

“I believe that a school nurse, a parent or a teacher would be adequate to discuss these sexual education matters with our youth. Why are the folks at Planned Parenthood the all-knowing sex professionals these days?” McGilvary said.

“I definitely want you to vote for Senate Bill 191, that way the kids wait until marriage for sex, just keep your legs crossed until you get married, just say no,” she said.

After public testimony, Dunleavy said the bill would be in Senate Education Committee again on Tuesday where the body would hear invited testimony, discuss the bill and decide what to do with it.

If the bill passes out of Senate Education, its next stop would be Senate Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage.

• Contact reporter Lisa Phu at 523-2246 or lisa.phu@juneauempire.com.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast for the week of March 25

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

The aging Tustumena ferry, long designated for replacement, arrives in Homer after spending the day in Seldovia in this 2010 photo. (Homer News file photo)
Feds OK most of state’s revised transportation plan, but ferry and other projects again rejected

Governor’s use of ferry revenue instead of state funds to match federal grants a sticking point.

The Shopper’s Lot is among two of downtown Juneau’s three per-hour parking lots where the cash payments boxes are missing due to vandalism this winter. But as of Wednesday people can use the free ParkSmarter app to make payments by phone. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Pay-by-phone parking for downtown Juneau debuts with few reported complaints

App for hourly lots part of series of technology upgrades coming to city’s parking facilities.

A towering Lutz spruce, center, in the Chugach National Forest is about to be hoisted by a crane Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, for transport to the West Lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to be the 2015 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
Tongass National Forest selected to provide 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

Eight to 10 candidate trees will be evaluated, with winner taking “whistlestop tour” to D.C.

Annauk Olin, holding her daugher Tulġuna T’aas Olin, and Rochelle Adams pose on March 20, 2024, after giving a presentation on language at the Alaska Just Transition Summit in Juneau. The two, who work together at the Alaska Public Interest Research Group’s Language Access program, hope to compile an Indigenous environmental glossary. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Project seeks to gather Alaska environmental knowledge embedded in Indigenous languages

In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, the word… Continue reading

The room where the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee holds its meeting sits empty on Tuesday. A presentation about an increase in the number of inmate deaths in state custody was abruptly canceled here. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Republican lawmakers shut down legislative hearing about deaths in Alaska prisons

Former commissioner: “All this will do, is it will continue to inflame passions of advocacy groups.”

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, March 25, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Employees at the Kensington Mine removing tailings from Johnson Creek on Feb. 17 following a Jan. 31 spill of about 105,000 gallons of slurry from the mine, although a report by the mine’s owners states about half slurry reached the creek 430 meters away. (Photo from report by Coeur Alaska)
Emergency fisheries assessments sought after 105,000-gallon tailings spill at Kensington Mine

Company says Jan. 31 spill poses no risk to Berners Bay habitat, but NOAA seeks federal evaluation.

Dozens of people throw colors in the air and at each other during a Holi festival gathering Monday night outside Spice Juneau Indian Cuisine. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Holi festival in Juneau revives colorful childhood memories for some, creates them for others

Dozens toss caution and colored cornstarch to the wind in traditional Hindu celebration of spring

Most Read