Parliament voted: Sex education only with the parents’ consent

The Chamber of Deputies have passed on Wednesday the draft law on sex education, by the PSD and PNL’s votes. Therefore, the law has been amended as against the initial version, so, the term “sex education” has become “health education” and the subject will be taught in schools only if the parents or tutors give their written consent.

The bill has passed by 269 votes to 3, while 35 have abstained from voting.

USR has opposed to the draft amended by PSD and PNL, that turned the name of sex education in health education. USR deputy, Cristina Iurișniți, who initiated the initial law on sex education, has stated after the vote that the amendments are adding one more level of bureaucracy to an optional subject that was to be taught less frequently in schools anyway.

“Today we have witnessed to a festival of hypocrisy with this law. We are annoyed by the term <sex> and we amended it into <health>, but we talk about sexual diseases (…) The term <sex> that many stumbled into has been mentioned in the law since 2004. What I proposed in the law 45 was just a clear mention: at least two sessions of info for our children (…) The mandatory signature of the parents will hinder the children’s access to education, as, many times, we know very well that it is very hard to obtain the parents’ signature, particularly  in the case of the parents working abroad, so many of them are not at home with their children, or they don’t have psychological and pedagogical abilities to understand the need of such information related to the prevention of sexual diseases, of accidental pregnancies , of child trafficking, of abuses. The signature of the parents is a proof of additional red tape.

Many children are abused in their families, there is incest in the families. There are many cases. We rank first in Europe on teen moms, 18,000 mothers are underage. I don’t’ think this is something we can brag about”, the USR MP said.

Before the vote, USR chairman Dan Barna has also asked Social Democrats and Liberals not to block the teaching of sex education in schools.

abusesbureaucracyccidental pregnancieschamber of deputiesconsentCristina Iuri?ni?ifamilieshealth educationincestinitiatoroptionalparentspnlpsdsex educationsexual diseasesteen momUSRvote
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