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U.K.: School hands out 345 morning-after pills to students - without telling parents
The Daily Mail (U.K.) ^ | April 28, 2007 | DANIEL MARTIN and ANDY DOLAN

Posted on 04/29/2007 9:35:54 PM PDT by Stoat

School hands out 345 morning-after pills to students - without telling parents

By DANIEL MARTIN and ANDY DOLAN -

Last updated at 23:34pm on 29th April 2007

 

a teen taking a pill

Critics of the policy argue it is promoting unsafe sex

lutterworth

A school has admitted handing out 345 morning-after pills to teenage girls without telling their parents.

The figure for contraceptives distributed at Lutterworth Grammar School and Community College over four years is believed to be the highest in England and Wales.

Parents and family groups were outraged at the "disgusting" and "wicked" scheme which they say encourages promiscuity and could put children at risk of contracting sexually-transmitted diseases.

A female GP attends the school, in Leicesterfar-shire, two lunchtimes a week, while the school nurse is present on a further two days a week. Both are able to prescribe the morning-after pill.

A source at the school said the service was brought in at the suggestion of a local doctors' surgery four years ago. It is "strictly confidential" - so parents are not told if contraceptives are given out unless their daughters confide in them.

The policy of dishing out free contraceptives to schoolchildren without telling their parents is a key plank of Labour's teenage pregnancy strategy.

Ministers launched it with great fanfare in 2000 following concerns over Britain's teenage pregnancy rate - the highest in Europe.

The strategy aims to cut the number of under-18 conceptions by 50 per cent by 2010.

Currently, around one in three pupils has access to condoms and emergency contraception without their parents' knowledge at sexual health clinics in secondary schools.

But pregnancy rates are still going up. Official figures show pregnancies among under-18s rose in 2005 to 39,683 - up from 39,593 in 2004 and much higher than the 35,400 recorded in 1995.

Despite its name, the Lutterworth school is a Church of England voluntary-controlled comprehensive. Its 1960s campus dominates the affluent market town.

The school has 1,900 pupils aged 14-19. More than a third - 686 - are in the sixth form, which may go some way to explaining the high number of morning-after pills given out.

One 16-year-old pupil, who would not be identified, said: "You can go and see the nurse at lunch or break. You can get bags of condoms or the morning-after pill if you need it. As far as the students are concerned, it's no big deal. People can go on a daily basis. Quite a few of my friends go - it's pretty popular."

Her 42-year-old father said: "A lot of parents will be shocked, not knowing if their children have had these pills. To be honest, to hear about this is disgusting. I didn't know this sort of thing was going on."

The girl's mother, also 42, said: "This service says to the children that they can go and have sex - and that concerns me. The morning-after pill means unprotected sex.

"If you have unprotected sex then you are putting yourself at risk not just of getting pregnant but of catching sexually-transmitted diseases."

Family campaigners joined the attack on the school and the Government's teenage pregnancy strategy.

Stephen Green, national director of Christian Voice, called the school's actions "thoroughly irresponsible, arrogant and wicked", claiming they will expose girls to the risk of infertility brought on by sexually-transmitted diseases.

"It will simply encourage schoolchildren into promiscuity," he said. "When are people going to learn that throwing contraceptives at children only increases the rate of teenage pregnancy?"

Norman Wells, of the pressure group Family and Youth Concern, pointed to 23 studies from ten countries which found that increased access to the morning-after pill had made no difference to unintended pregnancy and abortion rates.

He said schools should start teaching abstinence rather than handing out contraceptives.

"In divorcing sex from marriage in our thinking and teaching, we have cheapened it and reduced it to a casual recreational activity," he said.

Head Edwin de Middelaer said: "Our sixth form is the size of most schools so that may explain these figures to some degree.

"Although they are surprising, we think this healthcare provision is the right thing for the school to do. We have had no complaints from parents."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: abortion; britain; england; greatbritain; murder; murdermostfoul; uk; unitedkingdom
From the article:

One 16-year-old pupil, who would not be identified, said: "You can go and see the nurse at lunch or break. You can get bags of condoms or the morning-after pill if you need it. As far as the students are concerned, it's no big deal. People can go on a daily basis. Quite a few of my friends go - it's pretty popular."

Her 42-year-old father said: "A lot of parents will be shocked, not knowing if their children have had these pills. To be honest, to hear about this is disgusting. I didn't know this sort of thing was going on."

See also this FR thread from January 2006:

Thousands of 13-Year-Olds Given Abortifacient Morning-After Pills without Parents Knowledge

1 posted on 04/29/2007 9:35:56 PM PDT by Stoat
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To: cpforlife.org; Coleus; cgk; narses; MHGinTN; wagglebee

Ping


2 posted on 04/29/2007 9:39:36 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat

The nanny state takes over ...


3 posted on 04/29/2007 9:46:42 PM PDT by MHGinTN (You've had life support. Promote life support for others.)
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To: MHGinTN
The nanny state takes over

Too bad this 'nanny' enjoys murdering those under her care, and not even letting Parents know when it's being done.

 

4 posted on 04/29/2007 9:49:57 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat
Yet the authorities probably still hold parents responsible for their children’s misbehavior even though they have defacto-ly removed their parenting rights from them.
5 posted on 04/29/2007 9:55:11 PM PDT by raftguide
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To: raftguide
Yet the authorities probably still hold parents responsible for their children’s misbehavior even though they have defacto-ly removed their parenting rights from them.

We can rest assured of that.  The State is never wrong, of course.

"blech"

6 posted on 04/29/2007 9:57:27 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat

How dare they interfere with God’s plan to turn these 13- year olds into baby-making-machines.


7 posted on 04/29/2007 10:17:55 PM PDT by mc6809e
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To: mc6809e
How dare they interfere with God’s plan to turn these 13- year olds into baby-making-machines

Somehow, I can't escape the feeling that God is not very happy with us right now.  Unhappy with all concerned with promoting and facilitating the wanton murder of children ("abortion") and unhappy with the rest of us for failing to find a way to stop the madness.

 

8 posted on 04/29/2007 10:30:53 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat
I'm shocked that none of the parents expressed concern about the potentially dangerous side effects of these pills.

At the beginning of the year (here in the US) I had to sign a waver allowing the school nurse to give my kids Tylenol and Motrin. Why isn't the school required to notify parents before dispensing a much more serious drug??

9 posted on 04/29/2007 11:24:28 PM PDT by Marie (Unintended consequences.)
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To: Marie
 
I'm shocked that none of the parents expressed concern about the potentially dangerous side effects of these pills.

Perhaps they were not aware.  I've gotten the impression that the proponents of these 'death pills' like to play down any and all negative side effects and promote it as being 'entirely safe'.  (to all except the baby, of course)

At the beginning of the year (here in the US) I had to sign a waver allowing the school nurse to give my kids Tylenol and Motrin. Why isn't the school required to notify parents before dispensing a much more serious drug??

The only answer that I can think of is, essentially, politics.  Because they are pushing an agenda of "free sex for all with no consequences" they have gone out of their way to hide it from the parents to begin with, and so notifying them of side effects would have interfered with their primary goal, which is not "women's reproductive health" as they say but in promoting this "no consequences" agenda to children.  If a few children die or are hurt with lifelong consequences from these pills,  (aside from the profound pain that they will most likely feel later in life, knowing that they have murdered their own child)  in the minds of the school administrators and activists that is a small price to pay for pushing their agenda.

It's absolutely sickening and makes me terribly, terribly sad.
 


10 posted on 04/30/2007 12:33:49 AM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat

I’m against the morning after pill, but don’t you need some serious follow up appointments after taking it to avoid the chance of an ectopic pregnancy? Who’s following up these girls, who probably haven’t even been told the risk? Are they going to wait till some poor girl drops dead from a burst fallopian tube?


11 posted on 04/30/2007 4:41:00 AM PDT by Eepsy (The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.)
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