Controversy both locally and nationally following the Utah legislature pushing through a abstinence-only sex-education bill has Gayle Ruzicka's right-wing lobby group The Eagle Forum concerned that Gov. Gary Herbert might buckle before the tide.---

An e-mail went out today encouraging Eagle Forum supporters to phone or e-mail the Guv to not veto HB363, which would allow schools to drop sex ed and also ban discussion of using contraception.

The forum seems particularly concerned that the "homosexual community" is in support of a petition urging Herbert to veto the bill, and that some signatures on the petition may be fake; the e-mail cites three out of thousands that apparently belonged to Daffy Duck, Goofy and Porky Pig.

Here is the text of the phone-tree call to arms:

Utah Eagle Forum URGENT PHONE CALLS TO GOVERNOR NEEDED 801-538-1000 Governor Herbert is getting a lot of pressure from people asking him to VETO HB-363 Health Education Amendments! He is getting calls and e-mails from Planned Parenthood and Homosexual Rights Groups AS WELL AS MEDIA ATTENTION OF A BOGUS ON-LINE PETITION (see info below) This is the Health Education bill that passed both houses of the Utah Legislature with solid support. It changes our law so that we will be teaching HUMAN SEXUALITY with instruction on human reproduction, reproductive anatomy, reproductive physiology, marriage, child birth, parenthood, abstinence before marriage and fidelity afterwards. The bill provides for the teaching of all of these things - the only thing not included in the language of the bill is contraception (which should not be taught in the classroom!) Teachers can give instruction on how to nurture healthy relationships and commitment. It gives local control to districts by allowing them to opt out of sex-ed instruction all together. Additional teaching on the subject will be left up to parents, as it should be, where they can teach it on the foundation of their own moral or religious belief system, instead of in our schools where discussion of god, religion and morals IS NOT ALLOWED! IT INCLUDES A PROVISION TO PROVIDE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS TO PARENTS WHO FEEL THEY NEED IT, and parents can always use the resources available to all through Planned Parenthood if they wish! In fact, parents can guide their children to Planned Parenthood's TEEN TALK web-site where they can get all the comprehensive sex education information they want -- including graphic information on all types of sexual practices with pictures and all! In fact, Comprehensive Sex Ed is also available through the Utah Department of Health thanks to Federal Grants (See link to SL Tribune article here: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53504684-78/health-education-sex-department.html.csp). Parents can find comprehensive sex education resources everywhere, but our children's schools are not the appropriate place for it! The BOGUS petition is on a site called signon.org. They are an extension of MOVEON.ORG which is the ultra-liberal, George Soros funded site that got Obama elected in 2008! The reason we say it is a BOGUS PETITION, is because the petition will accept ANY NAME, REAL OR FICTITIOUS! A person can sit on a computer all day long and make up names and e-mail addresses and inflate the numbers of total signatures into the thousands. IT IS PROBABLE THAT MOST OF THE NAMES ARE NOT REAL PEOPLE (in fact, Porky Pig is signatory #25452, Daffy Duck #25486, and Goofy #27262) BUT, all the media outlets have picked up on the story that this petition has generated thousands of signatures in just a few days. We have to let the Governor know that he has OVERWHELMING SUPPORT to sign HB-363! CALL THE GOVERNOR TODAY! 801-538-1000 E-MAIL HIM TODAY! - constituentservices@utah.gov CALL NEIGHBORS, FRIENDS AND FAMILY - GET THEM TO CALL ALSO! THE GOVERNOR NEEDS TO HEAR FROM ALL OF US!! There has been a lot of anger (mostly from the homosexual community) over language that prohibits the advocacy of the intricacies of intercourse, sexual stimulation, or erotic behavior; homosexuality; the use of contraceptive methods or devices; or sexual activity outside of marriage. But that is the CURRENT LANGUAGE OF OUR LAW and has been the language for over 15 years. We are sure the parents of Utah would not want the schools teaching and advocating any of these things! But the people behind this petition certainly do. Unfortunately, the people signing the petition have been mis-informed about what the bill does and what the law is currently, including being told that this is all new language.

For more information contact: Gayle Ruzicka 801-756-2499 801-756-8077