 Mike Heath
Students at the King Middle School in Portland will be able to get prescription contraception if a new policy receives school board approval tomorrow night. The new policy will expand the already liberal policy of the King Student Health Center. Since 2000 they have provided condoms to students with, or without, the parent's consent or knowledge. Under the new policy they will also provide prescription contraception including contraceptive pills, patches or injections and the morning-after pill. Christian groups teach that the morning-after pill is a form of abortion. Maine law does not require parental consent for abortion. According to the Portland Press Herald students can obtain counseling and medication without notifying the parents. The paper quotes the overseer of Portland's student health centers, "State law allows them (students) to seek confidential health care and to decide whether to inform their parents about the service they receive." Maine law needs to change. Parents are responsible before God, and the state (whether the state chooses to acknowledge it or not) for their children. This is a clear example of the government overstepping its bounds. No circumstances exist where parents should be relieved of their responsibility to oversee the actions and lifestyles of their children. Supporters of these policies will argue that there are cases where the confidential relationship with the school counselor is appropriate and needful. Normally they cite a situation where the child is being abused by the parents or guardians. My response to this is that the school professionals should take the charge of abuse seriously enough to intervene by dealing with the parents, not the child. It makes no sense to use a child's allegation of abuse as reason to give the child the morning-after-pill without the parent's knowledge. The school board should adopt a policy that forbids any confidential relationships between staff and students. All counseling appointments should happen with the parents in the room. Parents who want their 11 to 13 year old to get contraceptives from the school (taxpayers) should be ignored. If we were still building a society that made any sense at all then we'd tell parents like this to repent, and we'd get them some help. It is, of course, totally wrong to suggest to anyone publicly anymore that they should repent, and turn from their wicked ways. I would like to respectfully suggest that this is clearly a case where the concept of repentance would help, and parenting classes that teach sexual abstinence are in order. If we REALLY loved our kids, instead of our pets, we'd be confronting this issue realistically. Instead, too many of us are shifting our affections from our children and grandchildren to the less demanding dog or cat that lives with us. Lest you think I am being judgmental I hold myself primarily responsible for Maine's current state of affairs. Christian institutions like the League are the ones that must lead the way in repenting. We are the ones who have this glorious knowledge of a better way. We hide our light under a bushel because we uncritically accept the scientific jargon and good intentions of the "professionals." Many of us are more secular than we know. Christ and His ways are not our first priority. If they were our first priority then there would be many more Portland parents demanding better of their leaders in Portland. They would do this for the children. It is the most vulnerable and needy of kids that get caught in these webs of misdirected good intentions. Here's the evidence. The lead nurse in Portland's school health centers says the service is about very few kids, "but they are kids who don't have the same opportunities and access as other students." The nurse is saying that these kids, the ones using the health clinic, don't have money and smarts. The kids with money and smarts just have sex behind their parent's back. They get their contraceptives at the local drug store, or from a friend. Maybe they don't even use contraceptives, and they're just sexually active. This is an example of the ridiculous liberal definition of equality. If rich, smart kids can have sex with impunity then poor, challenged kids must be able to also. This would be laughable if it weren't so serious, and tragic. When are adults going to decide to grow up? The school committee will meet at 7 p.m. in Room 250, Portland Arts and Technology High School, off Allen Avenue. Let your voice be heard by clicking [HERE]
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