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April 28, 2010
FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME PREVENTION BILL PASSES HOUSE/SENATE, AWAITS GOVERNOR’S SIGNATURE
States Attorney of DuPage County, IL
We are proud to pass along this press release from the State Attorney's Office in DuPage County, Illinois. . .
WHEATON –DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett announced today that SB 3332, which requires that all sex education courses taught in Illinois include material and instruction on the dangers associated with drug and/or alcohol consumption during pregnancy, passed out of the Illinois House of Representatives on a 77 to 29 vote. The legislation, which was sponsored by Senator Dan Cronin, passed out of the Illinois Senate on March 17 and now awaits Governor Pat Quinn’s signature.
“This is ground breaking legislation,” commented Birkett. “Most states, like Illinois, are required to provide information in their sex education classes on sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. Some schools also teach abstinence. Experts estimate that there are four times as many people with fetal alcohol syndrome as those with HIV/AIDS yet until now we have not required public education on this health crisis. With the passage of this legislation into law, Illinois will be the first state in the nation to require fetal alcohol syndrome education in its schools. It is beyond dispute that the only way to reduce the cost of fetal alcohol syndrome is through education. That is what makes this legislation so important. If young women are informed early, we will reduce the number of children born with fetal alcohol syndrome. Young women have to learn that when they are pregnant they can not consume alcohol or use dangerous drugs.”
State’s Attorney Birkett has also proposed similar legislation, SB 3333, which seeks to ensure that activities concerning public education on fetal alcohol syndrome are undertaken by the Department of Human Services. That bill, which is also sponsored by Senator Cronin, is currently in the Senate Assignments Committee.
“According to Dr. Philip May, the rates of FASD among school age children is between 2 - 5%,” remarked Ajeet Charate, FASD Program Director and Educator at Trinity Services, Inc. / Illinois NOFAS. “FASD is an invisible, silent epidemic which has a huge cost to the society and is 100% preventable.”
“This bill just makes sense, continued Birkett. “If we can reduce the number of babies born with fetal alcohol syndrome not only will we vastly improve the newborns’ life and that of their family, we will also save the taxpayers a substantial amount of money that would have otherwise gone to care for those afflicted with fetal alcohol syndrome. In Illinois alone, cost estimates to take care of people diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome approach $741,000 each day. This translates to slightly more than $64 million every year. This law will save increasingly sparse tax dollars, but more importantly it protects the unborn and helps guarantee a better life for them as well as their families. I would like to thank the members of the General Assembly particularly sponsor Dan Cronin and Co-Sponsors Senator Iris Martinez, Senator Kimberly Lightford, Representative Susana Mendoza, Representative Al Riley, Representative Naomi Jakobsson, Representative Patricia Bellock and Representative Paul Froehlich for passing this landmark legislation. The non-partisan support for this bill exemplifies just how important it is that we work together to put an end to fetal alcohol syndrome,” Birkett concluded.
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Please e-mail comments or questions to the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office at mailto:stsattn@dupageco.org
Find the original press release here
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