This map illustrates the eleven (11) states with "student choice" laws. The District of Columbia also has a provision, which can be found <a href="/statute/dc-cruelty-subchapter-v-classroom-animals">here.</a> These laws give K-12 students the ability to opt-out of classroom activities involving animal dissection or animal harm. While the laws differ from state to state, they generally allow students to refuse to participate in instructional exercises (both observation and participation) that involve harm or destruction to dead animals (and most laws also prohibit vivisection on higher vertebrate animals). Students who decline to participate must usually be offered alternative education projects and are protected from any discrimination based on their refusal to participate in animal dissection or harm. Those states that do not have laws on student choice may have formalized education policies that allow students to opt-out of classroom dissection activities. For more on these polices, see the <a href="https://navs.org/our-work/replacing-classroom-dissection/">National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS)</a>. The majority of states do not have laws or formal policies allowing students or their parents to refuse animal dissection.
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<section class="tablefield-migration" hidden data-role="fallback-table"><h3>Label creation</h3><table><tbody><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>7</td><td>Rebuild Table</td></tr><tr><td>{"col_0":"Label code (short name, no spaces)","col_1":"Label descriptive name","col_2":"Color (Hex code, e.g. #80BFB9)","weight":"1"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Label-1","col_1":"State without a law","col_2":"#8C510A","weight":"2"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Label-2","col_1":"State with a law","col_2":"#01665E","weight":"3"}</td><td>{"col_0":"","col_1":"","col_2":"","weight":"4"}</td><td>{"col_0":"","col_1":"","col_2":"","weight":"5"}</td><td>{"col_0":"","col_1":"","col_2":"","weight":"6"}</td><td>{"col_0":"","col_1":"","col_2":"","weight":"7"}</td></tr></tbody></table></section>
<section class="tablefield-migration" hidden data-role="fallback-table"><h3>Map data</h3><table><tbody><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>51</td><td>Rebuild Table</td></tr><tr><td>{"col_0":"State","col_1":"URL (relative path, e.g. \/statute\/name-of-page)","col_2":"Label code (must match Label code from Label creation table)","weight":"1"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Alabama","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"2"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Alaska","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"3"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Arizona","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"4"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Arkansas","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"5"}</td><td>{"col_0":"California","col_1":"\/statute\/ca-education-chapter-23-pupils-rights-refrain-harmful-or-destructive-use-animals","col_2":"Label-2","weight":"6"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Colorado","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"7"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Connecticut","col_1":"\/statute\/ct-education-%C2%A7-10-18d-animal-dissection-students-be-excused-participation-or-observation","col_2":"Label-2","weight":"8"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Delaware","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"9"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Florida","col_1":"\/statute\/fl-education-100347-biological-experiments-living-subjects","col_2":"Label-2","weight":"10"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Georgia","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"11"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Hawaii","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"12"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Idaho","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"13"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Illinois","col_1":"\/statute\/il-education-act-112-dissection-alternatives-act","col_2":"Label-2","weight":"14"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Indiana","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"15"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Iowa","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"16"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Kansas","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"17"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Kentucky","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"18"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Louisiana","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"19"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Maine","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"20"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Maryland","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"21"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Massachusetts","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"22"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Michigan","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"23"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Minnesota","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"24"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Mississippi","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"25"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Missouri","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"26"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Montana","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"27"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Nebraska","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"28"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Nevada","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"29"}</td><td>{"col_0":"New Hampshire","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"30"}</td><td>{"col_0":"New Jersey","col_1":"\/statute\/nj-education-18a35-425-right-pupil-refuse-participation-dissection-activities","col_2":"Label-2","weight":"31"}</td><td>{"col_0":"New Mexico","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"32"}</td><td>{"col_0":"New York","col_1":"\/statute\/ny-education-%C2%A7-809-instruction-humane-treatment-animals","col_2":"Label-2","weight":"33"}</td><td>{"col_0":"North Carolina","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"34"}</td><td>{"col_0":"North Dakota","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"35"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Ohio","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"36"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Oklahoma","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"37"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Oregon","col_1":"\/statute\/or-education-337300-refusal-dissect-animal-alternative-materials-or-methods-learning","col_2":"Label-2","weight":"38"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Pennsylvania","col_1":"\/statute\/pa-education-%C2%A7-15-1523-pupils-right-refusal-animal-dissection","col_2":"Label-2","weight":"39"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Rhode Island","col_1":"\/statute\/ri-education-%C2%A7-16-22-20-animal-dissection-and-vivisection-right-refuse-alternate-learning","col_2":"Label-2","weight":"40"}</td><td>{"col_0":"South Carolina","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"41"}</td><td>{"col_0":"South Dakota","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"42"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Tennessee","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"43"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Texas","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"44"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Utah","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"45"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Vermont","col_1":"\/statute\/vt-education-%C2%A7-912-students-right-refusal-animal-dissection","col_2":"Label-2","weight":"46"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Virginia","col_1":"\/statute\/va-education-%C2%A7-221-20001-alternatives-animal-dissection","col_2":"Label-2","weight":"47"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Washington","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"48"}</td><td>{"col_0":"West Virginia","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"49"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Wisconsin","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"50"}</td><td>{"col_0":"Wyoming","col_1":"","col_2":"Label-1","weight":"51"}</td></tr></tbody></table></section>