The House voted Monday to gut and then kill Sen. D. Chris Buttars's evolution bill as he watched from the sidelines, putting an end to its storied journey.

That means for now, teachers won't have to stress that a scientific theory, hypothesis or inference regarding the origins of the species is not an empirically proven fact.

After witnessing first-hand the passage of an intent-blasting amendment and the subsequent 28-46 vote on the bill, Buttars didn't veil his feelings.

"There was a number of influenced legislators who believe you evolved from an ape. I didn't," the West Jordan Republican said. "And it's being taught in school and that's wrong."

The amendment, put forth by Rep. Stephen Urquhart, R-St. George, deleted every line except for one saying the state Board of Education should make curriculum requirements relating to the instruction of science -- period. But even Urquhart voted against the amended bill, suggesting it was merely an attempt to kill the original measure.

Rep. James Ferrin, R-Orem, who teamed with Buttars on the bill, said nobody had been able to tell him that science could empirically prove whether men evolved from a common ancestor with apes. Yet he spoke of some who had said it was a fact.

"There is a zeal -- dare I say a religious zeal -- on the part of some to teach as fact that what cannot be proven as fact," Ferrin said.

But some representatives said creating a disclaimer targeting the theory of evolution among thousands of other scientific theories didn't make sense.

It could even create the perception that the state, "in a reverse way," endorsed all other scientific theories, said Rep. Scott Wyatt, R-Logan.

Buttars called the argument "foolish, but it probably had some weight."

The state Office of Education had reservations about the bill, and Brett Moulding, state director of curriculum and instruction, said his office was glad to see the bill die. "Our concern with the legislation was that it took away authority from the board to establish rules for curriculum, and additionally the bill isolated one theory of evolution for special treatment, which has been found particularly by the courts to not be constitutional." He added, "It was entering things that were not science into the science curriculum."

Others, like Urquhart, said learning the theory of evolution has not challenged their faith, though faith was "obviously the reason why we single out this one theory."

"There's still so much to be learned regarding all sorts of things in science," Urquhart said.

Moulding said he hoped that in the future, legislators would spend their time on other education needs.

"We have many, many important issues in education that need to be addressed, and we would hope that this would be resolved."

The bill had already passed the Senate. Buttars said he hasn't decided whether he would try again in future sessions.

Reporter Anna Chang-Yen contributed to this report.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.