New York City’s Department of Education is taking the unprecedented step of dispensing birth control and morning-after pills to students without parental permission at 13 city high schools.
Controversy is brewing over a new policy by NYC schools to allow nurses to dispense oral or injectable contraceptives and “Plan B” abortifacient drugs to students as young as 14 without telling their parents. Those parents who do not want these drugs dispensed to their childred must specifically opt out of the program.
The Department of Health told the NY Post that this is an expansion of a pilot program they conducted last year in five city schools where more than 1,000 students received either Plan B tablets or Reclipsen birth-control pills.
The purpose of the program is to combat teen pregnancy. According to city statistics, about 7,000 girls get pregnant by the time they reach the age of 17, with more than half choosing to get an abortion.
Even though NYC high schools have been providing free condoms to teens for some time now, this is the first time they’ve dispensed prescription drugs to students. The National Association of School Nurses reports that this program is the first of its kind in the nation.
Public outrage is growing over the program. “Your child can’t get a vaccination without a parent’s signature, can’t even see a doctor without a parent okaying it, can’t go on a field trip without permission, but now they can get pills to abort a baby without a parent knowing about it,” writes a commenter on the story named Judie Blandon. “This only encourages more bad behavior.”
Mauri Mays agrees. “This is beyond the pale,” she posted on the same article. “My daughter, at 17, could not take Midol at school without my permission, but the schools can provide an abortifacient? And now they are saying if this ‘project’ works at reducing pregnancies, they will roll it out nationwide? More in the fine print of ObamaCare? More government intrusion into our lives?”
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