SPOKANE, Wash. – The Spokane Public Schools Board is facing stiff resistance to its plans to implement a Planned Parenthood-designed comprehensive sex education curriculum for middle school students.

“I think it’s an entry into the schools,” Stephanie Cates, chairwoman for the country Republican Party, told The Spokesman-Review, referring to the abortion provider’s involvement with the program.

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“They have crafted the curriculum,” she said. “Their logo is on the workbook. And as I said before, it essentially gives a stamp of approval to that organization.”

Board members were forced to shelve a vote on the Planned Parenthood designed “Get Real” sex ed curriculum after a flood of public pushback that included an organized petition to stop the move.

Board president Deana Brower said she’s received hundreds of emails, many from a “Citizen Go” petition circulating online to keep Planned Parenthood from taking root in the district.

Brower thinks many of the emails are from people outside of the community, though she said it’s difficult to know for certain.

“We serve our children best in our community when we leave the politics out of it, and do what’s best for kids,” she told the Spokesman-Review. “And when we allow our local issues to become politicized by national agendas, I think we lose our focus.”

The Citizen Go petition points out that nearly half of the states in the country have defunded Planned Parenthood since undercover investigative videos released in 2015 showed officials discussing the harvest of baby organs.

This year alone, more than 20 abortion clinics have been shut down around the country, and Americans are becoming increasingly leery about Planned Parenthood’s political and financial motivations.

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“Please tell the school board NO to allowing Planned Parenthood a foothold in our schools! Our high school student must NOT be subjected to Planned Parenthood’s agenda!” the petition reads.

“So what exactly would this new curriculum emphasize? The ‘Get Real’ curriculum emphasizes gender fluidity and sexual promiscuity,” it continues. “The message is that kids can have sex anytime with anyone they want.”

The 601 folks who signed the petition believe that “sex is a wonderful thing designed for the covenant of marriage and the creation of children” and “teaching should be left to the parents and churches of our students – no nameless Planned Parenthood officials and school administrators.”

“The sexual liberal ethic says that anyone and everyone can have sex anytime and that anyone who doesn’t freely engage in all sexual activities is somehow not fully living life,” the petition reads. “However, this view of sexuality makes sex devoid of all spiritual significance and values and turns it into a merely physical act. One that ends up leading to a lot of physical pain, heartache, and more abortions for Planned Parenthood.”

According to the Spokesman-Review:

The board was scheduled to vote on the curriculum on June 28. However, district staff pulled it from the board agenda two days prior to the board meeting in response to last-minute concerns.

Some community members argued that the issue is one of religious and moral values. At a June 28 board meeting, people raised concerns ranging from the fact that the curriculum is not an abstinence-based program to worries that it was an avenue for Planned Parenthood to infiltrate public schools.

Locals like John Repsold, a pastor and member of the Human Growth and Development committee, thinks the district should consider both abstinence-based and comprehensive sex ed curriculums, and allow families to choose what best fits their standards.

“I don’t see the point of making it so divisive when you have other options,” he said.

State officials prescribe specific curriculum for districts that opt to teach sex education, and Laurie Dils, sex health program supervisor for the state superintendent, contends the Get Real program is considered one of the top two options for comprehensive sex ed.

Abstinence-only education was essentially outlawed by lawmakers, she said.

“People are suggesting that an abstinence-based program would be more in line with the community values,” she said. “Well, an abstinence-based curriculum is not really legal anymore.”

Besides, she said, Planned Parenthood’s involvement is no biggie.

“It’s not like it’s a vehicle for them to get into the classroom or anything,” Dils said, alleging that opposition to the program is typically from a “handful of parents” and outsiders.

“A lot of times people are brought in from out of district or they are people who don’t have kids in the school system who are the loudest,” she told the Spokesman-Review.

For parents who want to check out the Get Real curriculum, it’s not easy.

GetRealEducation.org doesn’t delve into specifics about the “27 sequential lessons” for middle-schoolers, or the “11 sequential lessons” for freshman and juniors.

Instead, the website focuses on how it allegedly “involves parents,” “empowers youth,” and provides avenues for becoming an advocate for the program.

Of course, there’s also online courses for educators, and all-day training sessions for teachers in Boston.

For now, school leaders in Spokane are putting the program on ice until a citizen’s advisory committee meeting this fall, where officials will discuss it further.

“Ultimately, we want to get the best curriculum in the hands of teachers and in front of kids as we can,” Spokane schools chief academic officer Adam Swinyard said. “We want to make decisions that are as broadly supported as possible.”