Maine middle school to offer birth control for kids aged 11 to 13
by Cynthia Trowbridge.
The proposal was approved by the school board at a Maine middle school for birth control pills and patches to be available for students as young as eleven years old. They will be able to get them at the student health center.
Students at King Middle school in Maine can now go to the student health center and and choose from a wide range of contraceptives now available to them.
The plan is being offered by city health officials for those in grades 6 through 8. These are students who would mostly be between 11 to 13 years old.
The Portland School Committee passed the measure by a vote of 7-2
As AP reports:
"It's very rare that middle schools do this," said Divya Mohan, a spokeswoman for the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care.
It was voted against by Chairman John Coyne who said that providing birth control is a parents responsibility.
An overwhelming majority of parents objected to the plan at the school's meeting.
One opponent said it violates parents rights and could put students at risk of cancer because of the hormones in the pill.
King students have been able to get condoms since 2000 at King school if they have permission from a parent to be treated at the health center.
To receive a birth control prescription the student will have a physical exam by a physician or nurse practitioner.
To be treated at the health center the student must have parental permission. Under state law any treatment is confidential so the student will make the decision whether to tell their parents what services they have received at the health center.
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