Intense Week at the Utah Legislature

February 13, 2017
Dear Friends and Neighbors, 

Last week (week three) of the Utah Legislative Session was very intense.  Several major bills came to committee, including comprehensive sex education, sexual abuse prevention education, assisted suicide, and abortion.  We have been working hard to make sure the legislators have accurate information to vote in the way that would best protect and strengthen families. 

We invite you to read our short summary of what happened to the bills, actions needed, and full report of the committee meetings. Please take a minute to look at the “Actions Needed” section to see what you can do.  Utah legislators really do listen to citizens. 

Warmest Regards, 

Laura Bunker and Rose Marie Murray 
Family Policy Resource

SHORT SUMMARY OF BILLS:

HB 215 REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH EDUCATION AND SERVICES Rep Brian King. This bill would have replaced Utah’s current “abstinence based sex education” with “comprehensive sex education.”  Thanks to your many concerned emails, the bill was defeated in the House Education Committee 12-2.  

HB 137 PUBLIC EDUCATION CURRICULUM REQUIREMENTS  Rep Keven Stratton. This bill would have encouraged more parental involvement and accountability in “sexual abuse education” programs in schools. No vote was taken on this bill, and the door is still open for it to come back again this session.

HB 76 END OF LIFE OPTIONS ACT Rep Rebecca Chavez-Houck. This bill would have legalized assisted suicide in Utah by giving doctors the right to prescribe a lethal drug that a person would take to end their life. The bill was tabled 9-3, and failed for this session. 

HB 141 UNBORN CHILD PROTECTION AMENDMENTS Rep Keven J Stratton. This bill would require the medical provider to tell the woman that if she takes the first does of the “abortion pill,” but does not take the second dose, her pregnancy could still progress.  This bill passed the House Judiciary Committee 9-2 with 1 absent. It will now go before the body of the House of Representatives.  

ACTIONS NEEDED:  

Please contact your Representative to support HB 141 UNBORN CHILD PROTECTION AMENDMENTS.  This bill gives women who regret taking the abortion pill, a second chance to save their baby. As you can see from our report below, many pro-abortion women are fighting against this bill. 

Please send a thank you email to the House Education Committee members who voted against the comprehensive sex-ed bill.

Please send a thank you email to the House Health and Human Services Committee who voted against the assisted suicide bill.

FULL REPORT: 

HB 215 REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH EDUCATION AND SERVICES Rep Brian King

The four-hour House Education committee meeting (which ended after 8 pm Monday, Feb. 6) was standing room only, with others in an overflow room.  Dozens of Utah citizens stood in line for over an hour to have one minute to speak for or against the bill.  The bill sponsor, Rep Brian King introduced his bill by saying, “Utahns want more comprehensive sex ed.”  

However, when it came to voting time, most of the Representatives disagreed. Rep. Francis Gibson explained his “no” vote by saying, “I don’t think I can support this bill as is because I don’t see how it can control consistency of message, and I worry about the graphic manner it could be taught. Who’s teaching it?  What’s “appropriate” to one teacher may not be appropriate to another teacher.”

Rep. LaVar Christensen also voted against the bill and commented, “We are not putting our head in the sand, we are not in denial.  There is only so much that you can do in the school, but the school isn’t the exclusive voice for any and all subject matters. I received a note from a high school student that says, “As a high school student, I ask that you please vote against HB215. Most students agree with me that we don’t like it, we don’t want it, we don’t need it, and we are the ones who are affected by it.” 

We agree with both of these legislators’ assessments, and are grateful the bill failed. To see how each committee member voted, click here. To listen to the House Education Committee hearing on this bill, click here.

HB 137 PUBLIC EDUCATION CURRICULUM REQUIREMENTS  Rep Keven Stratton 

This bill was heard in the same committee meeting as HB 57 comprehensive sex-education bill. 

After a 2014 bill passed, approving a new course called “sexual abuse prevention,” for all Utah elementary schools, many Utah citizens were concerned about the seemingly loose parameters of this new curriculum for children as young as kindergarteners. We all want to protect children, but we need to do it right. Many of these “self-protection” programs can be fairly effective in helping children learn personal safety skills, studies show that they are most effective when they maximize parental support and involvement. HB 137 would have encouraged more accountability to parents by requiring any changes in the curriculum to be reported to the Legislature, and encouraged more parental involvement by allowing any school district the option to use the current “opt-out” permission slip or change it to an “opt-in.”  

No vote was taken on this bill, and the door is still open for it to come back again this session.  To listen to the House Education Committee hearing on this bill click here. 

HB 76 END OF LIFE OPTIONS ACT Rep Rebecca Chavez-Houck.   

We worked hard to oppose this dangerous bill that would have given doctors the right to prescribe a lethal drug that a person would take to end their life. Legalizing assisted suicide does not remain limited to terminally ill adults, negatively impacts current suicide rates, and limits patient choice by denying coverage for valuable medical treatments. 

During the emotional hearing in the House Health and Human Services Committee on Thursday Feb. 9, many people urged the legislature to give them or their loved one the chance to die on “my time, my terms.”  After listening to many testimonies on both sides, the committee members tabled the bill, 9-3, and it has failed for this session. 

Rep. Redd explained his support for tabling the bill “Where you’re telling physicians they can help a person take their own life, you’re promoting a change in culture, a paradigm shift, and a change in the way the government intervenes.  If we offer this to people who can make decisions for themselves, why are we not going to offer this for loving caregivers who are taking care of somebody with terminal dementia? This is about a major change in ethics.  As a hospice provider, I’ve been with at the bedside of hundreds of patients during their last days, although I can never guarantee anyone with a peaceful death, as a physician, I’ve gone way out of my way to make sure they’re comfortable during their last 2-3 weeks.  I think we should focus on improving the competence of hospice care, and making sure that people in these heart-rending experiences that many of you have talked about [are comfortable].  This will raise a new generation of health care providers who are going to have a different focus, and that has potential long-term consequences.” 

Chairman Daw also explained his vote to table the bill by telling the story of a “passenger airliner that got one degree off course, and that one degree course change, over a thousand mile journey, ended up with that airliner - when it was too late to do anything about it - crashing into the side of a mountain where all the people were lost.  What may be portrayed her today as a small change, will ultimately down the road result in, I believe a future legislator looking at what happened, and asking, “How could you possibly do this?”  The reason I support tabling the bill. . . despite that there was some intimation that if we could just tweak the policy slightly, it would be okay, is I don’t want to send that message.  The message I want to send very clearly to Utah is this is the wrong policy for Utah. This is that one degree change that we do not want to make.” 

Rep. Miles concurred by saying, “I still can’t get the past the fact that you’re providing Utahns to legalize others to provide assistance to end a life. As I’ve discussed this with others and constituents, the overwhelming response that I’ve gotten is that they don’t want to authorize or legalize having someone else provide the assistance to end life.” 

Rep. Ray summed his motion to table the bill by saying, “This is a very fresh thing for me. I lost my mother 7 hours ago, to cancer.  This is not done out of spite or out of not having been through it, I’m living through it right now, and this is where my heart is.” 

We and our interns, Kadee, Miriam, and McKayla were greatly moved by everything we had heard during this committee meeting, and were very grateful this bill was defeated. To see how each committee member voted, click here.  To listen to the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the assisted suicide bill click here. For media coverage of the meeting, click here.

HB 141 UNBORN CHILD PROTECTION AMENDMENTS Rep Keven J Stratton 

This bill was heard in the House Judiciary Committee on FRIDAY Feb. 10. Hours before the meeting began, the room was nearly filled with women holding signs such as “I had an abortion,” and “I do not regret my abortion.” They were poised for a fight, and we could feel the tension in the room when we arrived.  

HB 141 would require a medical provider to inform a woman seeking an abortion of the “options and consequences of a medication-induced abortion” (abortion pill).  This means that the doctor must tell the woman that if she only takes the first of the two drugs involved (mifepristone) her pregnancy could still progress.  

The bill also requires the informational brochure currently given to women to include the statement, "Research indicates that mifepristone alone is not always effective in ending a pregnancy. You may still have a viable pregnancy after taking mifepristone. If you have taken mifepristone but have not yet taken the second drug and have questions regarding the health of your fetus or are questioning your decision to terminate your pregnancy, you should consult a physician immediately."

We testified in favor of this bill because it could help women who is having second thoughts about completing the abortion. If she does decide to halt the abortion, she can see her doctor immediately, who may be able to help her baby survive. Because the first abortion pill (mifepristone) does not cause birth defects, she can proceed with hope. Every patient deserves to know all of the options regarding their potential medical treatment, and giving a woman all of her options will help her to make the most informed choice for her and her baby.

This committee meeting was passionate and intense. At one point during our testimony in favor of the bill, the women who were opposed began yelling and “boo-ing” in protest. As we were returning to our seats, one woman told us angrily, “I don’t regret any of my abortions!” 

We appreciated Rep Lisonbee and Rep Coleman, both women, speaking out in support of the bill.  Rep. Lisonbee said this bill “could potentially save some women from experiencing the regret of a terminated pregnancy. "If there is a chance to alleviate suffering in one woman by adding this language to informed consent then I am for this bill.” 

HB 141 bill passed the House Judiciary Committee 9-2 with 1 absent. To see how each committee member voted, click here.  To listen to the House Judiciary Committee hearing click here.  For media coverage of the meeting, click here.