This month the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) considered approval of a pro-abortion curriculum for use in public elementary schools.
In a full board meeting on Friday, November 19, the SBOE voted against approval of the pro-abortion educational materials in consideration.
The textbook ultimately given final approval in a 10-3 vote, Goodheart-Wilcox, displays the most regard for Life of the four materials that were considered.
Even still, Goodheart-Wilcox falls short of being completely Life-affirming. The lessons fail to teach the scientific truth that Life and human development begin at the very moment of conception. This proven fact is the very foundation of human Life.
More outrageous, three of the four instructional materials that were considered, QuaverEd, Human Kinetics, and LessonBee, are blatantly anti-Life and devalue the dignity of preborn children.
When the board met on Tuesday, November 16, they gave preliminary approval to QuaverEd. QuaverEd refuses to refer to preborn children as “babies,” instructing students as young as eight to refer to these children only as “fetuses.” QuaverEd thus trains students to devalue the human Life developing in the womb.
Pro-Life Texans fought hard and petitioned the board to reject QuaverEd and the other anti-Life materials. These Texans encouraged the SBOE to instead promote the use of educational materials that present the true facts about fetal development and human sexuality in a Life-affirming way.
Every eight years the SBOE has the opportunity to affirm and promote Life when adopting new health education materials for use in schools. The health curriculum covers topics on human sexuality and the beginning of Life. This means that students have the opportunity to be educated on the miracle of Life.
Thankfully, the anti-Life lesson plan QuaverEd was ultimately rejected in a 6-6 vote that overturned the board’s initial approval of the curriculum.
The SBOE was also considering an online instructional tool known as Human Kinetics. This lesson plan is egregiously anti-Life. Human Kinetics presents abortion as an option for teen parents, intentionally mischaracterizing the act as a “safe” means of merely “ending the pregnancy.”
The last instructional tool in consideration, LessonBee, also pushes a radical abortion agenda on middle school children. LessonBee contains a direct link to Planned Parenthood’s website, connecting middle school students to the largest abortion provider in Texas and the United States.
LessonBee also includes contact information for other pro-abortion organizations, including Jane’s Due Process and the ACLU. Both of these groups are currently engaged in legal attacks against the State of Texas and Texas Right to Life to stop the enforcement of the Texas Heartbeat Act.
Ultimately, the board denied any sort of approval to Human Kinetics or LessonBee.
The SBOE consists of fifteen members who are elected to four-year terms. These leaders are chosen by the people of Texas and entrusted to oversee the education of Texas children.
Texas Right to Life is glad that our elected officials did not recommend learning materials that would teach innocent young Texas students to seek abortion or to actively disrespect preborn children.
Yet, the SBOE did not consider, let alone adopt, any educational materials that teach that Life begins at conception.
This is a tragic failure as Texas students desperately need to learn the scientific truths about Life.
We live in a culture that continuously devalues and lies about Life. Now we see that there is no guarantee that our own children’s school books will not also teach these lies. We must remain vigilant and raise the next generation in the truth.
Thank you to every Pro-Life Texan who contacted your SBOE member and encouraged them to ensure our Texas students are receiving Life-affirming health education.
Sadly, this was only a partial victory. Pro-Life Texans must continue to be actively engaged, elect Pro-Life leaders, and fight for the Right to Life of preborn children.