Illinois Has Its Priorities Backward: Let Children Learn and Let Parents Parent

By Janelle Towne, Opinion Contributor

Illinois parents should know what their children are being required to learn, and they should be allowed to question whether Springfield has its priorities straight.

Illinois law mandates that public-school history instruction include the roles and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Illinois and American history. Students must receive the history instruction prescribed by the law before graduating from eighth grade.

This is not merely a suggestion. It is a state mandate.

I write about this as a mother – and as someone with close family members who are directly impacted by these issues. I have a close family member who is a lesbian, and another close family member who is gay. I care deeply about both of them, and I respect them as individuals and as part of my family.

I also spoke with them about this requirement. They, too, believe it is unnecessary for the state to require children to receive instruction centered on sexual orientation before they finish eighth grade.

That may surprise people who assume anyone questioning this curriculum must dislike LGBTQ people. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I love my family members unconditionally. They deserve the same dignity, happiness and respect as anyone else. But respecting gay and lesbian Americans does not require Springfield to mandate this curriculum for every child, regardless of that child’s maturity or the wishes and values of the family.

Children should be allowed to remain innocent. They should be learning how to read proficiently, write clearly, perform arithmetic, understand science and develop a solid knowledge of American history and government.

Illinois schools are already struggling to ensure children master those fundamentals. Instead of fixing that crisis, politicians continue piling social and political mandates onto teachers and students.

Supporters will correctly point out that the law concerns historical contributions and is not technically a sex-education requirement. But that does not resolve the fundamental objection: Illinois has made sexual orientation and gender identity a compulsory part of history instruction before a child may graduate from eighth grade.

No child should ever be bullied, mistreated or made to feel ashamed. Schools should teach kindness and respect for every person. But parents – not politicians, activists or state education officials – should decide when and how sensitive questions involving sexuality and identity are introduced to their children.

There does not appear to be a credible statewide poll asking Illinois voters about this exact mandate, so politicians should not pretend they have overwhelming public support. Broader polling shows significant public concern. Pew Research Center found that 54 percent of Americans believed parents should be permitted to opt their children out of instruction involving sexual orientation or gender identity.

At the very least, Illinois parents deserve advance notice, complete transparency and a meaningful opportunity to opt their children out.

The Same Disconnect Appears in Illinois Abortion Law

The curriculum mandate reflects a larger problem in the Illinois government. On deeply personal and moral questions, Springfield repeatedly adopts policies more sweeping than most citizens realize and then portrays anyone who objects as extreme.

Illinois law does not establish a fixed week at which every abortion becomes illegal. Before fetal viability, the state’s Reproductive Health Act broadly protects abortion access. After a health care professional determines that a fetus is viable, an abortion may be performed when that professional judges it necessary to protect the patient’s life or health.

But Illinois defines “health” broadly. The statutory definition includes physical, emotional, psychological and familial health, as well as the patient’s age. It is not limited to an imminent medical emergency or an immediate threat to the mother’s life.

Let me be perfectly clear: A healthy, viable baby should never be aborted on the day of his or her due date. Once a baby is capable of surviving outside the womb – and certainly when that baby is ready to be delivered – Illinois law should recognize and protect that child’s life.

Women facing dangerous pregnancies or heartbreaking diagnoses deserve compassion, honest information and exceptional medical care. Doctors must always be able to act when a genuine medical emergency threatens a mother’s life. But protecting mothers during an emergency does not require permitting the intentional death of a healthy, full-term baby.

Most Americans do not support elective abortion late in pregnancy. Gallup reported that 70 percent opposed abortion being legal during the third trimester, while only 22 percent supported it.

Illinois voters also appear more moderate than the politicians controlling Springfield. A 2022 Illinois poll found that 40 percent of respondents considered themselves pro-choice while supporting some restrictions, including limits on late-term abortions. Approximately another quarter identified as pro-life with exceptions. Only about 22 percent favored an unrestricted pro-choice position.

The majority of people are not extremists. They understand that a pregnancy at six weeks is not the same as a pregnancy at six or nine months. They recognize that, as an unborn child develops and becomes capable of living outside the womb, the state has a greater responsibility to protect that life.

Respect Is Not the Same as Compulsion

The curriculum mandate and Illinois’ abortion policies are separate issues, but both reveal the same governing instinct: Springfield believes the state should settle the most intimate moral questions for every family.

It is possible to love close family members unconditionally while opposing mandatory LGBTQ curriculum for children. It is possible to care deeply about women facing crisis pregnancies while believing a healthy, viable baby should never be aborted.

Those are not hateful or radical positions. They are positions held by ordinary parents who believe compassion must be joined with boundaries, truth and common sense.

Illinois should repeal the curriculum mandate and return these decisions to parents and local communities. At a minimum, the state should require transparency and provide a clear parental opt-out.

Lawmakers should also create firm protections for viable unborn children while preserving a narrow exception for genuine, life-threatening medical emergencies.

Our schools should concentrate on literacy, arithmetic, science, civics and the knowledge children need to succeed. Parents should guide sensitive moral conversations. And when a pregnancy has reached the stage at which a baby can survive outside the womb, Illinois law should recognize that another life is present and worthy of protection.

Children need an education, not an agenda. Parents need a voice, not another mandate. And Illinois desperately needs leaders who understand the difference.