School Board Approves Birth Control Prescriptions at Maine Middle School
Posted on October 17, 2007
We mentioned before that it was being considered, and now it has been approved.
Pupils at a city middle school will be able to get birth control pills and patches at their student health center after the local school board approved the proposal Wednesday evening.
The plan, offered by city health officials, makes King Middle School the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available to students in grades 6 through 8, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
There are no national figures on how many middle schools, where most students range in age from 11 to 13, provide such services.
“It’s very rare that middle schools do this,” said Divya Mohan, a spokeswoman for the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care.
The Portland School Committee voted 5-2 for the measure.
Chairman John Coynie voted against it, saying he felt providing the birth control was a parental responsibility. The other no vote came from Ben Meiklejohn, who said the consent form does not clearly define the services being offered.
Opponents cited religious and health objections.
Diane Miller said she felt the plan was against religion and against God. Another opponent, Peter Allen, said he felt it violated the rights of parents and puts students at risk of cancer because of hormones in the pill.
It simply angers me. It reminds me of the novel, A Brave New World. One small step to the government raising our children for us. Sick!
» Filed Under ACLU, Abortion, Child Exploitation, News
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8 Responses to “School Board Approves Birth Control Prescriptions at Maine Middle School”
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Syndicate Me
Yes, but it’s local, so it’s not cause for panic. Don’t be surprised if all five of the yay votes get swept away in next year’s election.
It happened last year to the board in Kansas (or was it PA? Maybe both) that added ID to the science curriculum. It’s very easy to keep local politicians in accord with the wishes of the community. That’s why it’s so important to use national legislation as a very last resort.
I actually agree with you on this one Jeff.
I remember my middle school birth control was her father escorting us to, from, and during the movie…
This begs the question: If the government is going to be raising our children for us, and removes us from the decision process, what’s the point of birth control in the first place? It’s not like they’ll be our responsibility anyway – we’re just be giving more wards to the State.
Haha… boy am I on the wrong site…
Anyway, to give you guys some perspective, get a reality check! Middle school students, at least some of them, are sexually active. In fact, my cousin was… You know what her mother responded with… denial.
So I think this is a good thing. In fact, had her school had it, I would have encouraged it. I almost took her to get birth control myself. Because I think it is more important for her to not get pregnant and drop out of school at 13, than to take moral exception or pretend like I can stop her.
Maybe you should think about that. The world is changing, wake up and realize.
Dear EN,
Do you really, truly think that birth control would have been the solution for your 13-year-old cousin?
You are right. The world is changing and not for the better I might add. I doubt that many of us on the “other” side need a reality check as we don’t have to go far to witness the moral cesspool that our culture is drowning in.
So EN, should we take the low or the high road on the issue? Isn’t birth control just a bandaid? Perhaps we need to try to understand why your poor cousin allowed herself to be physically intimate with a boy. Did he really love her? Well, what is true love? How about being willing to sacrifice yourself for another. That’s a tough pill to swallow, isn’t it? But it is the TRUTH. Back to the boy. Was he willing to marry your cousin & financially provide for her & their child? Then why were they engaging in relations?
Oh, because it’s enjoyable you say. Well, what kind of society will we have if all of us engage in what’s enjoyable and ignore the tough stuff like going to work and studying for example? What if I think it’s “enjoyable” to run over my neighbor whom I dislike intensely? Then should I do it?
Even if both the boy & your cousin “enjoyed” each other physically what is the end result of that? Can a truly healthy & loving relationship be built upon mutual “using” of each other. That’s exactly what it is, isn’t it? I use you & you use me. When we’re done, we’ll just discard each other. Oh, but now there’s a baby involved. That makes it a little sticky…
Bottom line, EN, we are not animals. We all need to control ourselves for the good of ourselves, others and society. Everything we do requires control to a certain degree. What kind of standard are we setting up for children when we hand out birth control to them? We are not helping them to achieve their true dignity. We’re saying “Yes, you’re an animal. I know you’re an animal. And since you are unable to rise above this situation, I’ll give you something to prevent the messiness that would result from your actions.” EN, can you understand that is it the messiness that helps us to learn life’s lessons?
What is the purpose of this life if we don’t at least have high standards for ourselves and others? I can’t imagine that we were created to be so base and undignified.
WELL said, Slave of the Immaculate. I loved your quote near the end. I remember when the discussion was about distributing condoms in schools, and people of the mindset of EN were saying, “Just give them the condoms. We can’t stop them from having sex, but at least we can prevent pregnancy.” Well, apparently, this same school started distributing condoms in 2000 (SEVEN years ago), and now it’s so bad that they need to give out birth control pills to pre-teens. Doesn’t sound like that logic worked out, does it?!
However, now we’re using the SAME logic to fight for birth control pills???
So….this school board in Maine has decided that since middle school kids are having sex, then the school should have the authority to prescribe birth control medication to minors, without the permission or even knowledge of the childrens’ parents. How long before this same school board (or like-minded politicians) decide that since adolescent children suffer from stress, anxiety, depression, feelings of low self-esteem, etc., and therefore, the schools should also have the authority to prescribe anti-depressant medication to minors without the consent or knowledge of parents?