Illinois Compiled Statutes
Chapter 105 - SCHOOLS
105 ILCS 112/ - Dissection Alternatives Act.

(105 ILCS 112/1)
Sec. 1.
Short title.
This Act may be cited as the Dissection Alternatives Act.

(Source: P.A. 91-771, eff. 6-9-00.)
 
(105 ILCS 112/5)
Sec. 5.
Findings and purpose.
(a) The General Assembly finds and declares that the appropriate use of
dissection in research and education has contributed a great deal to the
advancement of medical and biological science. Without dissection the science
of anatomy could not have advanced, and it is the bedrock supporting the modern
practice of surgery in its many forms. The appropriate use of dissection has
brought many benefits to the people of this State, and it continues to play
important roles in medical and veterinary practice, research, and education.
(b) The General Assembly also finds that the remarkable progress of
the last few decades has produced significant advances in computing
and the graphic and representational arts, and that these developments have
resulted in the creation of many new technologies for teaching anatomy,
physiology, and other medical and biological sciences. In certain
circumstances these new technologies are capable of providing an educational
experience superior to dissection, and they have often proven to be less
expensive and more humane.
(c) The General Assembly also finds that the use of dissection, when
inappropriate or poorly supervised, can result in the inhumane treatment
and unnecessary suffering of animals. The inappropriate or careless use of
dissection in schools has also in some instances traumatized students
and contributed to a failure to teach proper respect for life and living
creatures.
(d) It is the purpose of this Act to encourage schools
in this State to make available and use alternatives to dissection when those
alternatives are appropriate and can provide an educational experience that is
equal or superior to the traditional use of dissection. It is not in any way
the intention of this Act to discourage the appropriate use of dissection in
research or when it provides a valuable educational experience to students.

(Source: P.A. 91-771, eff. 6-9-00.)
 
(105 ILCS 112/10)
Sec. 10.
Definitions.
For the purposes of this Act, unless the context
otherwise requires:
"Student" means a pupil at a public or private elementary or secondary
school in Illinois.
"Teacher" means a person who is teaching at a public or private
elementary or secondary school in Illinois, regardless of whether that
teaching is on a full-time or part-time, temporary or permanent, or regular
or substitute basis.
"Dissection" includes cutting, killing,
preserving, or mounting of living or dead animals or
animal parts for scientific study; but does not include the cutting,
preserving, or mounting of
(1) meat or other animal products that have been processed for use as food or
in the preparation of food or (2) wool, silk, glue, or other commercial or
artistic products derived from animals.

(Source: P.A. 91-771, eff. 6-9-00.)
 
(105 ILCS 112/15)
Sec. 15.
Alternative student projects.
A school may excuse a student
enrolled in a course in which students are ordinarily expected to perform,
participate in, or observe dissection who objects for any reason to performing,
participating in, or observing that dissection and instead allow the student to
complete an alternative project. The alternative project should be nonpunitive
and should be reasonably chosen to provide the student, through means other
than dissection, with knowledge similar to that expected to be gained by other
students in the course who perform, participate in, or observe the dissection.
The alternative project should be consistent with any guidelines for
alternative projects that have been adopted by the State Board of Education.

(Source: P.A. 91-771, eff. 6-9-00.)
 
(105 ILCS 112/20)
Sec. 20.
Guidelines for notification of students and parents.
(a) The State Board of Education shall develop and make available guidelines
that may be used by the public elementary and secondary schools within this
State to give appropriate notice of the following to students and their parents
or legal guardians:
(b) When offering high school students an opportunity to choose
between dissection or an alternative project, teachers should encourage the
students to take into consideration the expectations and requirements of the
colleges and graduate programs that they may be interested in attending.

(Source: P.A. 91-771, eff. 6-9-00.)
 
(105 ILCS 112/25)
Sec. 25.
Discrimination prohibited.
A student may not be penalized or
discriminated against in any way for refusing to perform, participate in, or
observe dissection.

(Source: P.A. 91-771, eff. 6-9-00.)
 
(105 ILCS 112/99)
Sec. 99.
Effective date.
This Act takes effect upon becoming law and
first applies to the 2000-2001 school year.

(Source: P.A. 91-771, eff. 6-9-00.)

Structure Illinois Compiled Statutes