News & Views item - January 2012

 

 

State Legislatures in the United States Introduce Anti-Evolution Bills Again. (January 12, 2012)

In its Policy Alert of January 11, 2012 the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) reports:

 

As state legislatures reconvene for 2012, anti-evolution bills have started cropping up. One such bill, in Indiana (S.B. 89), says that schools "may require the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life, including creation science." The sponsor, State Sen. Dennis Kruse, introduced the bill twice before in the House without success; this time, he is chairman of the Senate Education Committee. Two other anti-evolution bills have been pre-filed in New Hampshire. H.B. 1148 would require "evolution to be taught in the public schools of this state as a theory, including the theorists' political and ideological viewpoints and their position on the concept of atheism." H.B. 1457 takes a different tack, requiring "teachers to instruct pupils that proper scientific inquiry results from not committing to any one theory or hypothesis, no matter how firmly it appears to be established."