Update: School OKs Contraceptives to Middle School Girls

PORTLAND, Maine - After an outbreak of pregnancies among middle school girls, education officials in this city have decided to allow one school's health center to make birth control pills available to girls as young as 11.

King Middle School will become the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available, including birth control pills, patches and condoms. There are no national figures on how many middle schools provide such services. Most middle schoolers range in age from 11 to 13.

"It's very rare that middle schools do this," said Divya Mohan, a spokeswoman for the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care.

Read the rest of the story here.

Is this unbelievable or what? King Middle School is the first school in Maine. What about other middle schools in the country? I'm sure there are others doing what this Maine school is doing.

One of the school committee members, Sarah Thompson who has an eighth grader, said she supported the policy even though it made her feel "uncomfortable". What a cope out! She said she had done her parental duty, because there may be a time when her daughter will feel comfortable coming to her. What?! That is a fine example of abdicating your parental role to the school. How much more of her parental responsibilities is she willing to give up to the school?

What the adults who supported this policy are saying is that they are not encouraging the kids to have sex by offering them the contraceptive pills but for them to be careful and not get pregnant.

This is what I heard on the Dennis Prager show this morning. It is like a wife telling her husband who is about to go on a business trip. Ok, here's the condom. I know you are not going to have sex, but I want you to be safe.

You understand what that means? *Grinding my teeth and frothing at the mouth.*

Contraceptives for 11 to 13 year olds

A middle school in Portland, Maine is considering giving birth control pills to middle school students.

Students at King Middle School in Portland, Maine can already get condoms from their school and now the school committee is considering letting them get birth control pills as well.

The average age of a middle school student is 11 to 13 years-old. King Middle School would be the first middle school in the state of Maine to provide birth control pills.

Children need their parents’ consent to be treated at the school’s health center, but the kids do not have to tell their parents the reason they are being treated. The identities of the children receiving birth control pills would be kept confidential.

According to the State of Maine, 13% of middle school students are sexually active.

Source: MyEyewitnessnews.com

Sex happens. Because of that young girls should be given birth control pills to prevent unwanted pregnancies. What is wrong with this scenario?!

In the first place why are 11 to 13 year-old kids having sex? Where are the parents? Aren't they watching what their children are doing?

Why is it the school's business to give out birth control pills to 11 to 13 year-old girls? It is just unbelievable that the school is bypassing parents and giving out these pills behind the parents' back! Why is it ok to give out birth control pills without the parents' consent yet it is not ok to even give tylenol, a harmless pain killer, to kids without the parents' permission?

I am practically frothing at the mouth at what is going on here! Just because sex happens, is there no reason to teach children to abstain from sex until they are adults? Don't these adults who are proponents of giving kids the pill care what the possible long term effects of taking pills this early in one's life?

What adult believes that kids that take the pill is going to be effective in preventing pregnancy? These pills have to be taken daily, and consistently. Kids keeping a routine without being told? Don't make me laugh! Getting pregnant is only one of the problems that these sexually active children will have to face. What about sexually transmitted diseases? What about contracting HPV that can lead to cervical cancer? Is the school going to make it mandatory for girls to take the HPV vaccine next?

Parents, wake up, and take back the control over your young daughters' lives instead of giving it to the school or some government beauracracy by default!