State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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[ House Amendment 002 ]

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
 
                            -2-            LRB9111266EGfgam02
 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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