The House of Commons Tuesday 23rd Feb approved the “Children, Schools and Families bill” following its third reading, by 268 votes to 177 votes against. The bill now goes to the House of Lords.
This Bill represents the gravest attack yet on faith schools and is about imposing a liberal secular agenda on them. It also represents a clash of worldviews and attacks freedom of religion under the guise of equality and non-discrimination.
More sex education has long been the Labour government's guiding principle whenever the issue of teenage pregnancy or rising abortion rates is brought up in Parliament. It has been the normal response, even while all statistics have shown that the rates of unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and abortion have risen steadily in lock-step with the increased emphasis on sexual education in schools since the early 1970s. see John Smeaton's BLOG
Commenting on the sex education proposals in the bill, Paul Tully, SPUC’s general secretary, told the media:
“This is a dire result for school-children and for unborn children who are in the firing¬-line of this bill. They are the ones who will bear inordinate suffering and death as a result of schools being compelled to promote abortion and the sexualisation of teenagers.
“Ed Balls, the schools secretary, made clear this morning that the intention of his sex education proposals in the Children, Schools and Families bill is to make all schools, including faith schools, teach children how to use and where to obtain birth control and abortion.
“These are the key ‘advertising’ messages that the pro-abortion lobby is fighting to have promoted throughout the education system – where children can be influenced and corrupted without parental guidance or protection.
“The sexualisation of children in schools goes further than this, however. Already, parents are being kept in the dark about sexual health interventions on their children – whether birth control (drugs, implants or devices), STI/HIV tests and treatment, or abortion, being provided via the school system.
“Using the education system to by-pass parents and corrupt their children – especially those under the age of consent - is a grave abuse of power by the state.
“Many people will be especially appalled that both the National Society of the Church of England and the education service of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference have endorsed the provisions of the bill. Mr Balls made much of the support for the bill by Archbishop Nichols, and we have called upon the Archbishop, and other faith leaders to reconsider their support even at this late stage.”
