School's birth control policy sparks concern

Kennebec Journal, February 13, 2008

(excerpt) Through the years, each of Raejean Webber's four children used King Middle School's Student Health Center. It was a convenient way for them to get diagnosed quickly when she suspected that any of them had strep throat or another illness. She doesn't think that anymore.

In October, the Portland School Committee sparked a national controversy when it agreed to let the city's Public Health Division provide prescription birth control to sexually active students who enroll at the health center.

In December, the center started using a new parental consent and enrollment form to more clearly explain the reproductive health services offered there, and children's privacy rights under Maine law.

Students need written permission from a parent or guardian to be treated at the health center, but state law allows them to receive confidential care for reproductive health, mental health and substance-abuse issues.

Now, 126 of King's 510 students are enrolled in the center, down from 193 students in November. Health officials said some were enrolled before, some are new users, and some parents declined to re-enroll their children.

Webber didn't re-enroll her last child to attend King, a daughter who's in seventh grade.

Webber said she worries about being excluded from her child's health-care decisions. She questions the safety of providing prescription birth control to minors, especially without informing their parents.

And she believes that providing birth control to some children may influence the behavior of others.