VETOED: Disappointing Last Day of Legislative Session

VETOED: Disappointing Last Day of Legislative Session

Our bid to override Gov. Brad Little’s veto of the Children’s School and Library Protection Act has come to an end.

The governor vetoed the bill yesterday afternoon, forcing a showdown when the legislature reconvened today to wrap up the legislative session.

Between last night and this morning, more than 2,000 of you sent emails through our Action Center encouraging your state legislators to override the governor’s veto. But in the end, we fell short by only one vote, effectively killing this legislative effort for the year.

The Children’s School and Library Protection Act (H314a) was drafted and championed by Idaho Family Policy Center to address growing concerns from parents about the sexually explicit materials that public schools and community libraries allow their children to access.

According to statewide polling conducted by Idaho Family Policy Center, nearly 75% of likely Idaho voters believe schools and public libraries should keep pornographic materials away from minor children.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our legislative sponsors, Rep. Jaron Crane (R-Nampa), Sen. Cindy Carlson (R-Riggins), and Sen. Chuck Winder (R-Meridian). They fought hard to protect children’s innocence—and they deserve our praise.

Make no mistake: We’re not going anywhere, and we will be back with this legislation next year.

And in the meantime, we’re confident that the grassroots outcry will only get louder as more parents learn about the smut that some schools and libraries are pedaling to their children.

Enough is enough, and parents are not going to take it anymore.

 


 

Don’t forget to download, read, and share our report, Pornography in Schools and Public Libraries: A Statewide Problem. We’ve documented which schools and libraries give children access to obscene titles and what the legislature can do about it.

 


 

Comments

3 Responses

  1. One of my favorite books, The Holy Bible, has the following passage in the Book of Exodus:
    Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour (Exodus 20:16).
    If you ask anyone whether or not they want kids to access pornography, then of course any reasonable person would say no, of course not.
    If you hand someone a book and say it is pornographic and they believe you that it is pornographic, then of course they would not want kids to access it.
    But if you hand someone a book or a list of books and call them pornographic, when legally they are not, then you are bearing false witness and lying to advance a political agenda.
    H314 was very poorly worded.
    Books are not pornographic because they contain homosexual characters even if those homosexual characters kiss.
    Despite some people’s wishes, it is not against the law to be gay. Gay people know how to read and they are entitled to access books like everyone else.
    Now if you want to pass a law banning ALL romance books, then fine, try to pass a law banning all romance books. Good luck. Any book ever written that has two characters kiss will be removed from libraries.
    Books are not pornographic simply because they contain drawings of naked parts of the body.
    Books about breastfeeding, human anatomy textbooks, medical reference books, books with historical artwork would have to be removed from libraries had 314 passed even if those items are kept in the ‘adult’ area of a library. Or libraries would have to pass laws saying teenagers are not allowed in the library without a parent.
    What about the really controversial sex education books written for teens? At the end of the day, I think this is where the argument is. Question: Should it be against the law for a teenager or a parent of a teenager to access books about sexuality?
    No matter your answer, yes or no, teenagers will get there answers somewhere. For some, it will be at Church. The problem is not everyone goes to Church, not everyone wants to go to Church. It is not a law that we should seek a faith-based answer to every problem.
    Option A) provide access, but not force anyone to read, books that talk about sex openly. Also provide access to books about abstinence and other topics. Many teenagers seek answers about sexual questions when they are teens. That is simply a fact. Authors write books for that audience. Readers seek books that relate to sexual education. More importantly, parents (gasp) specifically request sex education books that are age appropriate for minors under 18. For little kids, it might be a simple book about where babies come from. For older teenagers, the book is going to get more specific. However, sex education books are not pornographic because they are not written to arouse or excite. They are written to educate. Legally speaking, that is a huge difference. You or I, or our neighbor, might still find them offensive. That is fine. There are a million and one books that I find offensive. I don’t read them. I talk to my kids about making the best choice possible according to our family’s morals.
    What about books with scenes of rape or incest. Sadly, there are many innocent kids and teens who have been sexually assaulted. The Elizabeth Smart case from years ago is a great example. Many survivors of these stories write autobiographical memoirs about their experiences. Other authors write fictionalized accounts of similar experiences. Writing is one way we tell stories.
    Do we want to pass a law banning stories that involve difficult experiences. Fine, pass a law that does that and suddenly books like the Bible become banned.
    A book does not have to be free of offense to be in a library.
    Many parents find books about guns and hunting to be abhorrently offensive because of the common school shootings across the country. As a librarian, I will never ever remove books about guns or hunting from the library to remedy their discomfort. Libraries provide books to all.
    However, and this is very, very important. Libraries do not have actual, obscene pornography that would be recognized as such under the law. We don’t and to say otherwise is a lie.
    Do we have offensive items according to your morals? Probably. Yes.
    I am a parent. I am a Christian. I do NOT support actual pornography. I do NOT support people lying to others and telling the public that I give porn to kids. I don’t do it.
    I support libraries. I have also looked at and read every book that has been publicly brought up in testimony or other news sources. There is a difference between sex education books and pornography.
    Next year’s version of 666, 139, or H314 might very well pass. But it will not survive legal challenges in the long run.

  2. It would be nice if you would publish a list of the legislators who voted against the override. That way we can try to hold them accountable during the next election.

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