Consent requirement stripped from sex ed bill
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Indiana schools don't have to teach kids about consent in sex ed.
Why it matters: More than half of Hoosier kids are sexually active by the time they leave high school, according to a 2023 school-based survey of students.
- Nearly a quarter of female students and 1 in 10 male students are physically forced to have sex when they don't want to by the time they're seniors, according to the same survey.
Driving the news: Language that would have required schools to teach the concept of consent to sexual activity was removed during a conference committee meeting this week for Senate Bill 442, a bill that would require schools that teach sex ed to have their curricular materials approved first by their school board.
- Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville, said he'd rather leave the decision to local school boards.
- "This is a sensitive subject for many," Byrne said in a brief conference committee hearing Monday. "I believe there may be different thoughts in different communities. It leaves … local control on making those decisions."
Yes, but: The bill would not let locals decide whether they wanted to show a "high-definition ultrasound video — at least three minutes in duration — showing the development of the brain, heart, sex organs and other vital organs in early fetal development." It would make that a required part of sex ed, if schools chose to teach it.
- It also would mandate that schools show students a rendering or animation of the process of fertilization and each stage of fetal development.
What they're saying: "We are talking about teenagers that sometimes don't learn that they can say, 'no,'" said Rep. Tonya Pfaff, D-Terre Haute. "We're protecting our youth."
- Pfaff, a high school math teacher, amended the consent language into the bill while it was in the House.
- The bill's House sponsor, Rep. Michelle Davis, R-Whiteland, supported the amendment.
Several other Democrats raised concerns about removing the consent language from the bill, and Rep. Becky Cash, R-Zionsville, suggested Byrne add language about age-appropriate teaching of consent as a compromise.
The other side: Byrne said he "understands the concerns" but would be leaving the decisions to local school boards and repeatedly said there wasn't time for more discussion.
- The meeting lasted less than 15 minutes.
What's next: The conference committee report could change before it's signed or voted on, but Republicans maintain a supermajority in both chambers and don't need Democrats to sign off on legislative changes at this point in the process.
- The bill is expected to get a final vote in the next day or two.