These are the bills that Obama signed. He's tried to say they are not true, but oops not quite true.
A couple of days ago, John McCain appeared on the always-execrable morning program, The View. During his visit he had to endure Whoopi Goldberg asking him if she - under a McCain presidency - would have to “worry about being a slave again?”, he also had to deal with Joy Behar declaring that McCain was “lying” in campaign ads that suggested Barack Obama voted in favor of legislation to approve sex ed in Kindergarten. Now point of fact, I had read that factcheck and politico said that this was a false statement and the McCain's camp was wrong to put the video out. It was pointed out to me from my friend Chris that this was false.
The SEICUS Guidelines For Children Between The Ages Of 5 And 8.
Level 1 Middle childhood, ages 5 through 8; early elementary school
Here are some points that I found, remember that this is for kids from 5-8.
v A boy/man has nipples, a penis, a scrotum, and testicles.
v A girl/woman has breasts, nipples, a vulva, a clitoris, a vagina, a uterus, and ovaries.
v Some sexual or reproductive organs, such as penises and vulvas, are external or on the outside of the body while others, such as ovaries and testicles, are internal or inside the body.
v Both boys and girls have body parts that feel good when touched.
v Puberty is a time of physical and emotional change that happens as children become teenagers.
v Men and women have reproductive organs that enable them to have a child.
v Men and women have specific cells in their bodies (sperm cells and egg cells) that enable them to reproduce.
v Reproduction requires that a sperm and egg join.
v Vaginal intercourse – when a penis is placed inside a vagina – is the most common way for a sperm and egg to join.
v Babies usually come out of a woman’s body through an opening called a vagina.
v Some babies are born by an operation called a Caesarian Section.
v A woman’s breasts can provide milk for a baby.
v Human beings can love people of the same gender and people of another gender.
v Some people are heterosexual, which means they can be attracted to and fall in love with someone of another gender.
v Some people are homosexual, which means they can be attracted to and fall in love with someone of the same gender.
v Homosexual men and women are also known as gay men and lesbians.
v People deserve respect regardless of who they are attracted to.
v Making fun of people by calling them gay (e.g. “homo,” “fag,” “queer”) is disrespectful and hurtful.
v Touching and rubbing one’s own genitals to feel good is called masturbation.
v Some boys and girls masturbate and others do not.
v Masturbation should be done in a private place.
v People often kiss, hug, touch, and engage in other sexual behaviors with one another to show caring and to feel good.
v Both girls and boys may discover that their bodies feel good when touched.
v Human beings have natural, physical responses to sexual stimulation.
v During puberty, boys and girls may become more aware of their responses to sexual stimulation.
v Sometimes women become pregnant when they do not want to be or are unable to care for a child.
v Sexually transmitted diseases are caused by germs such as bacteria and viruses.
v There are many types of sexually transmitted diseases.
v People who do not engage in certain behaviors do not get STDs.
v A small number of children are born with STDs that they get from their mothers during pregnancy or birth.
v The most common ways for a person to get an STD is to participate in sexual behavior or share a needle with another person who is already infected with an STD.
v Children who find needles on the ground should not touch them and should tell an adult.
*The Full Text Of S.B. 99 Included Changes That Would Offer Sex Education To Children Beginning In Kindergarten. “Each class or course in comprehensive sex education offered in any of grades K through 12 shall include instruction on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including the prevention, transmission and spread of HIV.” (S.B. 99: Illinois Senate Health And Human Services Committee, Passed, 7-4-0, 3/6/03, Obama Voted Yea) -[emphasis mine-admin]
Here is the link to the sex ed bill in question that was ref in the attack ad. Go to the 'full-text- link on that page to read the bill. It was basically a re-do of a bill in Illinois that was rejected some years earlier, Then re-presented in 2001, due in part to climbing numbers of children having sex in inner city Chicago locations. Anti-molestation was only a small portion of the bill. Please also note all the strike-thrus in the verbiage, plus the amendment added to try to get that bill to pass in the Illinois state legislature. Please also note the ref to K-12, 5-12, and comprehensive and 'age-appropriate' sex ed in the bill.
To go see the BILL itself.
Here is an excerpt from the very long article from Byron York.
What, specifically, was the bill designed to do? It appears to have had three major purposes:
Each class or course in comprehensive sex education offered in any of grades 6 through 12 shall include instruction on the prevention, transmission and spread of AIDS.
Senate Bill 99 struck out grade six, changing it to kindergarten, in addition to making a few other changes in wording. It read:
Each class or course in comprehensive sex education in any of grades K through 12 shall include instruction on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including the prevention, transmission and spread of HIV.
Course material and instruction shall teach honor and respect for monogamous heterosexual marriage.
Course material and instruction shall stress that pupils should abstain from sexual intercourse until they are ready for marriage…
[Classes] shall emphasize that abstinence is the expected norm in that abstinence from sexual intercourse is the only protection that is 100 percent effective against unwanted teenage pregnancy [and] sexually transmitted diseases…
The proposed bill eliminated all those passages and replaced them with wording like this:
Course material and instruction shall include a discussion of sexual abstinence as a method to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
Course material and instruction shall present the latest medically factual information regarding both the possible side effects and health benefits of all forms of contraception, including the success and failure rates for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV…
The bill gave parents and guardians the right to take their children out of sex-ed classes by presenting written objections. The bill also specified that “all sex education courses that discuss sexual activity or behavior…be age and developmentally appropriate.” And, after covering a number of other provisions, the bill addressed the issue of inappropriate advances:
Course material and instruction shall teach pupils to not make unwanted physical and verbal sexual advances and how to say no to unwanted sexual advances and shall include information about verbal, physical, and visual sexual harassment, including without limitation nonconsensual sexual advances, nonconsensual physical sexual contact, and rape by an acquaintance. The course material and instruction shall contain methods of preventing sexual assault by an acquaintance, including exercising good judgment and avoiding behavior that impairs one’s judgment. The course material and instruction shall emphasize personal accountability and respect for others and shall also encourage youth to resist negative peer pressure. The course material and instruction shall inform pupils of the potential legal consequences of sexual assault by an acquaintance. Specifically, pupils shall be advised that it is unlawful to touch an intimate part of another person as specified in the Criminal Code of 1961.
When I asked Martinez the rationale for changing grade six to kindergarten, she said that groups like Planned Parenthood and the Cook County Department of Health — both major contributors to the bill — “were finding that there were children younger than the sixth grade that were being inappropriately touched or molested.” When I asked about the elimination of references to marriage and the contraception passages, Martinez said that the changes were “based on some of the information we got from Planned Parenthood.”
Obama’s explanation for his vote has been accepted by nearly all commentators. And perhaps that is indeed why he voted for Senate Bill 99, although we don’t know for sure. But we do know that the bill itself was much more than that. The fact is, the bill’s intention was to mandate that issues like contraception and the prevention of sexually-transmitted diseases be included in sex-education classes for children before the sixth grade, and as early as kindergarten. Obama’s defenders may howl, but the bill is what it is.
Below is a listing of then-state Senator Barack Obama's votes and state senate floor speeches on IL's Born Alive Infant Protection Act. A package of Born Alive bills was introduced three times during Obama's tenure. The cornerstone bill was the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, aka "Born Alive Infant Defined," which defined legal personhood to include born alive infants any time the words "person," "human being," "child," or "individual" was stated in IL law.
This definition was identical to the federal BAIPA which was drafted from the definition of "live birth" created by the World Health Organization in 1950 and adopted by the United Nations in 1955.
Following are Obama's actions and votes on Born Alive. The bill number changed every year it was reintroduced.
2001
Senate Bill 1095, Born Alive Infant Protection Act
Obama's "no" vote in the IL Senate Judiciary Committeehere, March 28, 2001
Transcript of Obama's verbal opposition to Born Alive on the IL Senate floor, March 30, 2001, pages 84-90
Obama's "present" vote on the IL Senate floor, March 30, 2001
2002
Senate Bill 1662, Born Alive Infant Protection Act
Obama's "no" vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, March 6, 2002
Transcript of Obama's verbal opposition to Born Alive on the IL Senate floor, April 4, 2002, pages 28-35
Obama's "no" vote on the IL Senate floor, April 4, 2002
Listen to audio from Obama's 2002 IL Senate floor debate wherein he argued that while babies might be aborted alive, it would be a "burden" to a mother's "original decision" to assess and treat them.
Meanwhile, the federal Born Alive Infants Protection Act with a "neutrality clause" added passed the U.S. Senate 98-0, the U.S. House overwhelmingly, and was signed into law August 5, 2002. The pro-abortion group NARAL expressed neutrality on the bill.
2003
Senate Bill 1082, Born Alive Infant Protection Act
Democrats took control of the IL Senate with the 2002 elections. This year Born Alive was sent to the Health & Human Services Committee, chaired by Barack Obama.
As can be seen on the vote docket, Obama first voted to amend SB1082 to add the "neutrality clause" from the federal version of Born Alive to the IL version to make them absolutely identical. (DP#1 means "Do Pass Amendment #1.)
Then Obama voted against the identical version. (DPA means, "Do Pass as Amended.)
Additional corroboration of Obama's vote: IL State Senate Republican Staff Analysis of SB 1082, March 12-13, 2003, bottom of page 2
For 4 years following his 2003 vote Obama misrepresented it, stating the wording of the IL version of Born Alive was not the same as the federal version, and he would have voted for it if so. As recently as August 16, 2008 Obama made this false assertion.
But when evidence presented was irrefutable, Obama's campaign on August 18, 2008, admitted the truth to the New York Sun.
· 110th Congress: Senator, Illinois, Democratic. Jan. 4, 2007, to Jan. 3, 2011.
· 109th Congress: Senator, Illinois, Democratic. Jan. 3, 2005, to Jan. 3, 2007.
See how Barack Obama voted on key votes -- the most important bills, nominations and resolutions that have come before Congress, as determined by washingtonpost.com.
Barack Obama has missed 303 votes (46.3%) during the current Congress. See a list of his missed votes since 1991 or see a full list of vote missers.
Barack Obama has voted with a majority of his Democratic colleagues 96.0% of the time during the current Congress. This percentage does not include votes in which Obama did not vote. See a list of his votes against his party since 1991, a list of all Senators in the 110th Congress with a similar score, or a full list of party voters.
