On Feb. 18, members of the Health & Social Services Committee in the Alaska House sat through a presentation featuring teenagers from Anchorage and Juneau who have been recruited and trained by Planned Parenthood to disseminate the abortion business’ line on abortion access and LGBTQ ideology to school age children around Alaska.
Teen Council is a program launched by Planned Parenthood to use teenagers to deliver the abortion business’ sexuality advice to students. As part of the program, the group regularly brings youth to Juneau to advocate on behalf of Planned Parenthood’s strategic priorities. The Feb. 18 presentation included a strong push for explicit sex education in schools, including LGBTQ sexual practices.
“We work to empower teens to share information through formal classroom presentations and through informal interactions with friends, family, and classmates,” Planned Parenthood’s website explains. “When students see a peer presenting about social situations and pressures with confidence and knowledge, they listen.”
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The Feb. 18 presentation spent considerable time criticizing abstinence only sex education in favor of what Planned Parenthood activists call “comprehensive sex education.” This involves teaching students how to engage in various forms of sexual activity while using condoms and hormonal contraception. It also includes information on how to get an abortion if contraception fails, and it encourages youth to explore LGBTQ impulses.
One youth expressed gratitude for learning “the condom lineup” from a Planned Parenthood trained peer in 8th grade.
Samantha McNelly, Planned Parenthood’s community outreach educator in Anchorage, told state representatives that abstinence only sex education is “harmful” because it does not empower youth to make informed sexual choices. She criticized the abstinence focus, saying it can be shaming for youth who are already sexually active to “hear that that is somehow wrong or bad for their health.”
Several Teen Council youths then spoke to representatives, asking them to support teaching “age appropriate” comprehensive sex education every year, in kindergarten through 12th grade.
One youth expressed gratitude for learning “the condom lineup” from a Planned Parenthood trained peer in her eighth grade Anchorage classroom.
Throughout the year, Teen Councils members meet weekly with a Planned Parenthood representative, and then “take what they learn during meetings and create classroom presentations to share with their peers at various schools and community groups,” Planned Parenthood’s website states.
There are currently two Teen Councils in Alaska – one in Anchorage and one in Juneau – with 22 participating youth. Planned Parenthood is now working to expand its influence by recruiting teens in other parts of the state.
The House Committee on Health & Social Services is dominated by more liberal Democrats as a result of the bi-partisan coalition that currently runs the State House. Rep. Tiffany Zulkosky, D-Bethel, chairs the committee and Ivy Spohnholz, D-Anchorage, is vice chair. Other members include Anchorage Democrats, Matt Claman, Harriet Drummond and Geran Tarr. Only two Republicans sit on the committee – Sharon Jackson of Eagle River and Lance Pruitt of Anchorage. Pruitt did not attend the presentation.
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