Posted on 10/17/2007 10:44:16 PM PDT by Canticle_of_Deborah
PORTLAND, Maine — 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.
A supporter, Richard Verrier, said it's not enough to depend on parents to protect their children because there may be students who can't discuss things with their parents.
Condoms have been available since 2002 to King students who have parental permission to be treated at its student health center.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Take your kids out of public school or you will hear and see more of these indoctrination stories.
As ashamed as I am of Maine after this vote, people should also be aware of a few more facts that this is a national trend:
"One in four [of these centers] provides birth control ranging from condoms to prescription contraception, said Divya Mohan, spokeswoman for the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care."
"Last year, Portland's program cost about $500,000 to operate, including state and foundation grants, MaineCare/Medicaid and private health insurance reimbursements, and in-kind contributions of space and services provided by the city."
This was the brainchild of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
Two of the middle schools, "Moore and Lincoln middle schools don't have health centers, and their students are ineligible for treatment at the King Student Health Center"... some liberals will probably now sue for equal treatment.
"The top five reasons for visits to the health center [Maine] last year were, in descending order: immunizations, physical examinations, sore throat, upper respiratory infection and asthma."
"Nationally, the top five reproductive health services offered at school-based health centers were, in descending order: pregnancy testing, abstinence counseling, HIV/AIDS counseling, birth control counseling, and the diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, according to the national assembly."
We're going to hell-in-a-hand-basket folks ... and it isn't just Mainiacs that are leading the way.
[...cannot handle continuing disappointment and shock....must stop thinking things can’t get any worse...]
Unfortunately, they can and have been going steadily downhill as the politicians become more worse and power hungry on a daily basis. It may become as bad as the days of Noah and as Sodom and Gomorrah. Note how the public school board and city council thought nothing of supplanting the rights of the parents.
America is coming to its end as other empires have throghout the centuries. Perhaps it is time to consider God and His Christ in these latter days.
Maybe they could provide free Valium for those kids who are having a bad day. They could perform tattooing for free, too. And do piercing. Breast enhancement. Liposuction. “School: it’s the place to be!”
LOL...Bonnie Bell Lip Smackers...LOVED those!
I was also reading books and listening to music. Sure, I loved boys but it was from afar.
Birth control pills are HORMONE THERAPY. OB-GYNs require annual and sometimes, semi-annual, pelvic and breast exams for patients on hormone therapy. This exam also includes a discussion with the physician about the patient’s current health and lifestyle and life events, an important part of patient care. Are those involved in dispensing the drug in schools going to provide the necessary examinations and doctor/patient discussion? What about drug interaction and pre-existing conditions? My 16 and 17 year-old teens are just now beginning to remember things pertinent to their healthcare (when visiting the doctor).
B U M P
FIRST, it ignores the moral and emotional issues related to premarital sex.
SECOND, it helps to reduce the birth rate, not only for pre-teens and teens, but for future adults as well as this will program the children that birth control is not only acceptable, but desirable.
THIRD, it helps shortens the lifespan of those who practice unsafe sex and use hormonal birth control methods preventing these people from extending their burden on the earth.
It is amazing isn’t it? Yet a high school kid will be expelled from school for having some aspirin with them. Bureaucrats dispensing medicine and medical advice is the essence of government run health care. And who will be accountable? The U.S. Congress.
well, what i want to know is....
if i am a parent and i choose to opt out of the use of the nurse because otherwise my kid will get birthcontrol pimped to them....what happens when a valid emergency occurs with my kid-—will they refuse to treat my kid?
Lord only knows.
Hey, they still make Dr. Pepper flavor! :-)
Me too. I read the Laura Ingalls Wilder series over and over plus all the Nancy Drew books from the library.
Indeed, and you can even buy them in industrial-sized lots :-)
I LOVE America! :-)
LOL, too funny :-)
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