Women rally for sex education

JEFFERSON CITY — More than a dozen women from Boone County packed into state Rep. Ed Robb’s office to talk about sex education and abortion Tuesday.

Columbia College student Kirstin Steitz, 23, said she was nervous about speaking face to face with Robb, R-Columbia, after years of writing letters to representatives.

“I think my generation feels very apathetic about the system,” said Steitz, who is trying to start an abortion-rights committee in Columbia.

Steitz descended on the Capitol along with more than 100 participants from throughout the state who broke into groups to visit state legislators. The rally and lobbying groups were organized by about 17 women’s and abortion-rights groups as part of an annual event that targets legislation pertaining to reproductive health.

The list of sponsors included religious groups. Audience members carried signs that said, “Jesus said judge not lest ye be judged,” and a worship service closed the event.

A few of the women who went to Robb’s office said they were surprised when he answered, “I agree” to many of their statements about the necessity of sex education in schools.

“I know what I knew at that age, and I didn’t know much,” Robb said, adding that he also opposes legislation that would ban abortions.

“I’m against abortion, but that’s a personal thing,” he said.

Materials provided to participants listed Robb as “anti-choice.”

The 11 bills targeted by the activists included legislation sponsored by Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O’Fallon, that would remove a state requirement that sex education classes include lessons on contraception. Under the bill, schools teaching sex education would be prohibited from hiring anyone from an organization that provides abortions, such as Planned Parenthood, to teach the classes.

Davis said she did not meet with any of the men and women who came to the Capitol to talk about her bill. She looked at a handout distributed at the rally that called the proposal “sex miseducation.”

Davis said that her bill does not prohibit teachers from talking to students about contraception, abortion or pregnancy and that it allows school boards more freedom and parents more say in what is taught during sex-education classes.

Other bills would ban abortion and allow pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception.

Kevin Hawkins of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region argued that emergency contraception is not abortion.

“We want to inform our youth so they have all the information they need to make decisions for themselves,” he said.