LifeSiteNews.com is reporting that the New York Post filed a Freedom of Information Act request about the activity in the 40 school-based "health centers." Released documents revealed much higher numbers of birth control and abortifacients dispensed in schools than the city's Department of Health admitted publicly.
The Department said it gave 567 doses of Plan B to teenage girls last year and 580 received Reclipsen birth control. However, according to the documents, the district actually distributed 10,720 doses of Plan B in the 2010-2011 school year and 10,462 packets of birth control. They also administered 2,117 shots of the contraceptive Depo-Provera. Students also received hormone injections and were implanted with the Nuva Ring or IUDs.
Parents and religious leaders are outraged by the numbers, especially because these clinics tend to be located in poor and minority areas of the city.
“This was population control on blacks and Latinos without our knowledge,” said NYC Parents Union President Mona Davids, who is black.
“What gives the mayor the right to decide, without adequate notice, to give our children drugs that will impact their bodies and their psyches?” Davids asked.
All of these drugs have serious side effects that could affect the health of these young women for the rest of their lives.
As LifeSite points out, Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn referred to the Department's policy as “tragic and misguided” when it was announced last year.
"Studies show that increased availability of contraception fails to reduce rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion. New York City’s government already distributes tens of millions of free condoms, and contraceptives are readily available from other sources, yet rates of teen sexual activity and pregnancies continue to be unacceptably high, and our abortion rate is a national disgrace," they wrote.
" Abstinence before marriage is the only sure way to avoid pregnancy and disease, while also allowing minors to practice virtue and responsibility. The public schools would be better advised to promote what truly works rather than continuing to follow a failed experiment that will only lead to further problems for society and for young people."
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