VIDEO: McCain lies in TV ad about Obama wanting to teach very young children about sex

A new campaign ad from John McCain is ruffling feathers in the campaign of Barack Obama.

Specifically, the advertisement, slated to run in “key markets” in battleground states, alleges that while a state senator in Illinois Obama voted to teach very young school children about sex.

But the bill the advertisement cites is not quite what McCain and his sex-obsessed, right-wing minions allege.

First of all, McCain’s camp is accusing Obama of this bill as one of his “accomplishments.” That is inaccurate, Obama voted for the bill, but was not a sponsor.

So what does the bill actually say? If you read it, as I have, it is hardly a shove-sex-down-the-throats-of-very-young-children-before-teaching-reading-skills bill.

In fact, the laws allowed parents to review — and reject — curriculum just as they do in Michigan, and allow parents to remove their children from such education. Secondly, look closely at the second quote. It specifies “age appropriate.”

(a) No pupil shall be required to take or participate in any class or course in comprehensive sex education if his parent or guardian submits written objection thereto, and refusal to take or participate in such course or program shall not be reason for suspension or expulsion of such pupil. Each class or course in comprehensive sex education offered in any of grades 6 through 12 shall include instruction on the prevention, transmission and spread of AIDS. Nothing in this Section prohibits instruction in sanitation, hygiene or traditional courses in biology.

But wait there is more:

Sec. 27‑9.2. Family Life. If any school district provides courses of instruction designed to promote wholesome and comprehensive understanding of the emotional, psychological, physiological, hygienic and social responsibility aspects of family life, then such courses of instruction shall include the teaching of the alternatives to abortion, appropriate to the various grade levels; and whenever such courses of instruction are provided in any of grades 6 through 12, then such courses also shall include instruction on the prevention, transmission and spread of AIDS. However, no pupil shall be required to take or participate in any family life class or course on AIDS instruction if his parent or guardian submits written objection thereto, and refusal to take or participate in such course or program shall not be reason for suspension or expulsion of such pupil.

The State Superintendent of Education shall prepare and make available to local school districts courses of instruction designed to satisfy the requirements of this Section.
The State Superintendent of Education shall develop a procedure for evaluating and measuring the effectiveness of the family life courses of instruction in each local school district, including the setting of reasonable goals for reduced sexual activity, sexually transmitted diseases and premarital pregnancy. The goals shall be set by the beginning of the 1991‑92 school year. The State Superintendent shall distribute a copy of the procedure to each local school district. Each local school district may develop additional procedures or methods for measuring the effectiveness of the family life courses of instruction within the district. Before the beginning of the 1993‑94 school year, the State Superintendent shall collect and evaluate all relevant data to determine whether the goals are being achieved.
(Source: P.A. 86‑941.)

I dunno about you, but my idea of age-appropriate sex education information for children that young is “good touch/bad touch” education. Nowhere in the laws does it mandate young children be taught the intricacies of condoms, sexual behavior or more, it only mandates it for 6th-12th graders and demands a focus on abstinence plus contraception options.

Maybe the attack ad is meant to divert attention from Gov. Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter’s pregnancy, the solid proof that abstinence-only education doesn’t work.

Or more likely, it’s just another in a long series of recent lies to win the White House with.