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91_HB3254ham001
LRB9111266EGfgam02
1 AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3254
2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend House Bill 3254 by replacing
3 everything after the enacting clause with the following:
4 "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Dissection Alternatives Act.
6 Section 5. Findings and purpose.
7 (a) The General Assembly finds and declares that the
8 appropriate use of dissection in research and education has
9 contributed a great deal to the advancement of medical and
10 biological science. Without dissection the science of
11 anatomy could not have advanced, and it is the bedrock
12 supporting the modern practice of surgery in its many forms.
13 The appropriate use of dissection has brought many benefits
14 to the people of this State, and it continues to play
15 important roles in medical and veterinary practice, research,
16 and education.
17 (b) The General Assembly also finds that the remarkable
18 progress of the last few decades has produced significant
19 advances in computing and the graphic and representational
20 arts, and that these developments have resulted in the
21 creation of many new technologies for teaching anatomy,
22 physiology, and other medical and biological sciences. In
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1 certain circumstances these new technologies are capable of
2 providing an educational experience superior to dissection,
3 and they have often proven to be less expensive and more
4 humane.
5 (c) The General Assembly also finds that the use of
6 dissection, when inappropriate or poorly supervised, can
7 result in the inhumane treatment and unnecessary suffering of
8 animals. The inappropriate or careless use of dissection in
9 schools has also in some instances traumatized students and
10 contributed to a failure to teach proper respect for life and
11 living creatures.
12 (d) It is the purpose of this Act to encourage schools
13 in this State to make available and use alternatives to
14 dissection when those alternatives are appropriate and can
15 provide an educational experience that is equal or superior
16 to the traditional use of dissection. It is not in any way
17 the intention of this Act to discourage the appropriate use
18 of dissection in research or when it provides a valuable
19 educational experience to students.
20 Section 10. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act,
21 unless the context otherwise requires:
22 "Student" means a pupil at a public or private elementary
23 or secondary school in Illinois.
24 "Teacher" means a person who is teaching at a public or
25 private elementary or secondary school in Illinois,
26 regardless of whether that teaching is on a full-time or
27 part-time, temporary or permanent, or regular or substitute
28 basis.
29 "Dissection" includes cutting, killing, inspecting,
30 touching, handling, preserving, mounting, or other
31 manipulation of living or dead animals or animal parts for
32 scientific study; but does not include the cutting,
33 inspecting, touching, handling, preserving, mounting, or
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1 other manipulation of (1) meat or other animal products that
2 have been processed for use as food or in the preparation of
3 food or (2) wool, silk, glue, or other commercial or artistic
4 products derived from animals.
5 Section 15. Alternative student projects. A school may
6 excuse a student enrolled in a course in which students are
7 ordinarily expected to perform, participate in, or observe
8 dissection who objects for any reason to performing,
9 participating in, or observing that dissection and instead
10 allow the student to complete an alternative project. The
11 alternative project should be nonpunitive and should be
12 reasonably chosen to provide the student, through means other
13 than dissection, with knowledge similar to that expected to
14 be gained by other students in the course who perform,
15 participate in, or observe the dissection. The alternative
16 project should be consistent with any guidelines for
17 alternative projects that have been adopted by the State
18 Board of Education.
19 Section 20. Guidelines for notification of students and
20 parents.
21 (a) The State Board of Education shall develop and make
22 available guidelines that may be used by the public
23 elementary and secondary schools within this State to give
24 appropriate notice of the following to students and their
25 parents or legal guardians:
26 (1) Which, if any, of the courses taught at the
27 school ordinarily require or allow the student to
28 perform, participate in, or observe dissection.
29 (2) Whether or not the school makes available to
30 students the opportunity to complete an alternative
31 project.
32 (b) When offering high school students an opportunity to
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1 choose between dissection or an alternative project, teachers
2 should encourage the students to take into consideration the
3 expectations and requirements of the colleges and graduate
4 programs that they may be interested in attending.
5 Section 25. Discrimination prohibited. A student may
6 not be penalized or discriminated against in any way for
7 refusing to perform, participate in, or observe dissection.
8 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
9 becoming law and first applies to the 2000-2001 school
10 year.".
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