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91_HB3254
LRB9111265EGfg
1 AN ACT in relation to alternatives to dissection.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
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
23 certain circumstances these new technologies are capable of
24 providing an educational experience superior to dissection,
25 and they have often proven to be less expensive and more
26 humane.
27 (c) The General Assembly also finds that the use of
28 dissection, when inappropriate or poorly supervised, can
29 result in the inhumane treatment and unnecessary suffering of
30 animals. The inappropriate or careless use of dissection in
31 schools has also in some instances traumatized students and
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1 contributed to a failure to teach proper respect for life and
2 living creatures.
3 (d) It is the purpose of this Act to encourage
4 educational institutions in this State to make available and
5 use alternatives to dissection when those alternatives are
6 appropriate and can provide an educational experience that is
7 equal or superior to the traditional use of dissection. It
8 is not in any way the intention of this Act to discourage the
9 appropriate use of dissection in research or when it provides
10 a valuable educational experience to students.
11 Section 10. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act,
12 unless the context otherwise requires:
13 "Student" means (i) a pupil at a public or private
14 elementary or secondary school in Illinois, (ii) a student at
15 an Illinois community college, or (iii) an undergraduate
16 student at a public or private college or university in
17 Illinois.
18 "Teacher" means a person who is teaching (i) at a public
19 or private elementary or secondary school in Illinois, (ii)
20 at an Illinois community college, or (iii) undergraduate
21 students at a public or private college or university in
22 Illinois; regardless of whether that teaching is on a
23 full-time or part-time, temporary or permanent, or regular or
24 substitute basis.
25 "Dissection" includes cutting, killing, inspecting,
26 touching, handling, preserving, mounting, or other
27 manipulation of living or dead animals or animal parts for
28 scientific study; but does not include the cutting,
29 inspecting, touching, handling, preserving, mounting, or
30 other manipulation of (1) meat or other animal products that
31 have been processed for use as food or in the preparation of
32 food or (2) wool, silk, glue, or other commercial or artistic
33 products derived from animals.
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1 Section 15. Alternative student projects. A school may
2 excuse a student enrolled in a course in which students are
3 ordinarily expected to perform, participate in, or observe
4 dissection who objects for any reason to performing,
5 participating in, or observing that dissection and instead
6 allow the student to complete an alternative project. The
7 alternative project should be nonpunative and should be
8 reasonably chosen to provide the student, through means other
9 than dissection, with knowledge similar to that expected to
10 be gained by other students in the course who perform,
11 participate in, or observe the dissection. In the case of a
12 student in a public elementary or secondary school, the
13 alternative project should be consistent with any guidelines
14 for alternative projects that have been adopted by the State
15 Board of Education.
16 Section 20. Guidelines for notification of students and
17 parents.
18 (a) The State Board of Education shall develop and make
19 available guidelines that may be used by the public
20 elementary and secondary schools within this State to give
21 appropriate notice of the following to students and their
22 parents or legal guardians:
23 (1) Which, if any, of the courses taught at the
24 school ordinarily require or allow the student to
25 perform, participate in, or observe dissection.
26 (2) Whether or not the school makes available to
27 students the opportunity to complete an alternative
28 project.
29 (b) When offering high school and college students an
30 opportunity to choose between dissection or an alternative
31 project, teachers should encourage the students to take into
32 consideration the expectations and requirements of the
33 colleges and graduate programs that they may be interested in
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1 attending.
2 Section 25. Notice of enactment.
3 (a) The Board of Higher Education shall give notice of
4 the enactment of this Act in the same manner as it
5 customarily provides notice of new legislation affecting
6 institutions of higher education.
7 (b) The Illinois Community College Board shall give
8 notice of the enactment of this Act in the same manner as it
9 customarily provides notice of new legislation affecting
10 community colleges.
11 Section 30. Discrimination prohibited. A student may
12 not be penalized or discriminated against in any way for
13 refusing to perform, participate in, or observe dissection.
14 This Section does not prevent any institution of higher
15 education from considering an applicant's experience with
16 dissection or dissection alternatives when making admissions
17 or other academic decisions.
18 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
19 becoming law and first applies to the 2000-2001 academic
20 year.