Bad Bills Update - The Fight Continues
Bad Bills Update - The Fight Continues
It's not the update we were hoping to give, but there's still time for things to change.
Last week we alerted you about the deadline for all state legislative committees to report on some bad bills (and one good one). Many of you took immediate action and contacted your elected officials on bills threatening parental rights and the innocence of children.
If you’re one of the many people who contacted your elected officials about these bills, thank you. You’re awesome. Truly.
But unfortunately, the Opt-In for Sex Ed didn’t advance, and the harmful bills are still alive.
The Sex Ed Mandate, School Vaccine, and the Pornographic Schoolbook bills remain a threat. That means we have to stay vigilant and keep up the pressure on legislators.
Read below for updates on the bills we have been keeping you informed about. And then if you haven’t done so already, visit MFI’s Take Action page to learn more and for links to contact your elected officials.
Bills MIP opposes:
The Sex Ed Mandate: HB544/SB268 “An Act relative to healthy youth” (AKA: The Healthy Youth Act) would mandate a controversial sex education framework for public schools across the state that teach sex ed. If passed this bill would result in less transparency and loss of local control and would expose children to graphic sexual content. We oppose these bills. Status: Senate version reported favorably out of committee and sent to Senate Ways and Means Committee. Contact your legislators here.
School Vaccine Bills: HB604 “An Act relative to routine childhood immunizations,” SB1391 “An Act relative to vaccines and preventing future disease outbreaks,” and HB2151/SB1458 “An Act promoting community immunity” would eliminate religious exemptions, result in decreased accountability and increase government bureaucracy, shame schools and parents, and allow minors to consent to vaccination without their parent or guardian’s consent or knowledge. We oppose these bills. Status: House version extension order filed to 12/31/24. Contact your legislators here.
Pornographic Schoolbook Bills: HB2499/SB2528 “An Act regarding free expression” would make it near impossible to remove porn from K-12 public school libraries and give woke activist school librarians more power. We oppose these bills. Status: House and Senate versions extension order filed to 6/1/24. Contact your legislators here.
Bills MIP supports:
The Opt-In for Sex Ed: HB587/HB463 “An Act relative to securing parental consent for human sexuality education” would require school districts to adopt an opt-in policy for students to participate in human sexual education. School districts would be required to secure written permission from the parent or guardian consenting to their child’s participation in sex ed lessons. We support these bills. Status: Sent to study.
We will be sure to keep you informed with future updates on these bills. Keep an eye out for our alerts!
We know this isn’t the news we were all hoping for, but don’t be discouraged. Let’s keep up the fight together, friends. May parental rights and the innocence of children prevail.
#equippingparents
#protectingkids
This post was adapted from the Massachusetts Family Institute blog. To read the original post, and to support the work of MFI as they continue to fight for parental rights and freedoms in the Commonwealth, click HERE.
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