Maine Middle School Offers Preteens the Pill

Parents OK health center visits, but care is confidential
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 18, 2007 10:56 AM CDT
Maine Middle School Offers Preteens the Pill
Portland School Superintendent Jeanne Whynot-Vicker, left, joined by Assistant Superintendent Jill Blackwood, right, speaks during a School Committee meeting Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007 in Portland, Maine. The local school board on Wednesday night weighed whether to allow pupils at a middle school to...   (Associated Press)

A Portland, Maine, middle school stirred controversy last night when its board voted 5-2 to make birth control pills and patches available for its pupils, typically between 11 and 13 years old. The move was prompted by the school nurse's claim that five of 134 students treated by the health center last year were sexually active, the AP reports. Opponents cited religious and health concerns.

Students need parental permission to visit the health center and must undergo a physical, but all treatment is confidential. Condoms have been offered there since 2002, as in many schools, but it’s “very rare” for a middle school to offer oral contraceptives, one expert said. About 25% of national student health centers that serve ages 11 or older provide some form of contraception. (More birth control stories.)

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