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More: Read The Assembly Bill

SHOREWOOD - Wisconsin schools that decide to teach sex education would have to instruct students on the use of birth control under a bill given preliminary approval by the state Assembly on Tuesday.

After being blocked by Republicans from taking a final vote on passage, Democrats who control the Assembly were forced to delay that action until Thursday.

Milwaukee Democratic State Assemblyman Jon Richards said he expects the bill to pass today.  West Bend Republican Assemblyman Glenn Grothman opposes it, but he says that the bill only covers public schools, not private programs.

Should it pass the Assembly, it must also clear the Senate and be signed by Gov. Jim Doyle before it becomes law.

Fifteen states currently require that sex education in schools include instruction on contraception, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which studies reproductive health. While Wisconsin law does not require schools to offer sex education, it does require that abstinence be stressed.

Anti-abortion groups and the Wisconsin Catholic Conference oppose requiring teaching about birth control. Wisconsin Right to Life said schools should focus on teaching abstinence as a way to prevent pregnancy and disease.

The bill was supported by Planned Parenthood, groups representing nurses and health departments, and the state teachers' union.

Under the proposal, if schools opt to teach sexual education, they would be required to address the health benefits, side effects and proper use of contraceptives and other methods to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

If parents don't want their kids to learn about contraceptives in the classroom, they will have the option to opt out.

Tawyana Duncan says her 11-year-old daughter will learn about birth control at home. She's OK with schools teaching it, if parents are informed.
 
"It's not like it used to be," said Duncan. "A shot doesn't cure everything. I think there are benefits to it all but I do believe it starts at home."
 
Parent Russ Salzman says it's already out there for kids. "They are getting a full picture on the streets, on Facebook, on the Internet. It's an open world; people are living life out loud."
 
Right now schools are also required to teach abstinence in sex education classes ,and that would continue even if this new law passes.
 
"I think abstinence comes before everything," said Duncan.
 
But abstinence was only taught in Nicole Riegg's school. "I feel that the way that everything is developing these days, that being the only message doesn't really get through," Riegg said.

Nearly all Wisconsin public schools offer at least one type of sexual education class between grades six and 12, based on data provided to the state Department of Public Instruction. Ninety-four percent taught human sexuality and 88 percent taught pregnancy prevention in the 2007 school year, according to the department.

The bill does not change a 2007 law that requires Wisconsin teachers to stress celibacy as the best behavior for unmarried students and the best means of avoiding pregnancy and diseases such as AIDS. Wisconsin is one of 22 states that require abstinence to be stressed in sex education, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Doyle's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he would sign the bill should it pass.

 (The Associated Press contributed to this report.)