FORT FAIRFIELD JOURNAL

                                  Real.  Educational.  News.

 Fort Fairfield Journal     About Us     Contact Us    Advertising Rates      Subscribe       Distribution       Bible Reference     Our Library

Taxpayer-Subsidized Program Conflicts with Maine’s Laws on Underage Sexual Activity

By: David Deschesne

Editor/Publisher, Fort Fairfield Journal, October 24, 2007, p. 10

PORTLAND, MAINE - King Middle School was recently authorized to distribute prescription birth control pills and patches to students as young as 11 years-old under the misnomer of “reproductive health care.”

The school board there voted 5-2 last week in favor of the taxpayer subsidized program to distribute the free sex products to students, thereby encouraging those under 14 to engage in sexual activity in violation of current Maine Law. The vote serves to illustrate that in a democracy, just because the majority approves, that doesn’t always make it right.

According to Amanda Rowe, lead nurse in Portland's school health centers, five of the 134 students who visited King Middle School's health center during the 2006-07 school year reported having sexual intercourse. The school nurse, Laura McNeill, justified the need for prescription contraceptives because of sexual activity of the pre-teen schoolchildren.

In light of King Middle School's admission that pre-teen schoolgirls were sexually active, the Maine Christian Civic League (MCCL) announced it will ask the State of Maine Office of the Attorney General to review the matter for an investigation into criminal activity.

“Maine law currently allows sex between adolescents as long as both are over 14 years old and no more than 5 years age difference,” said MCCL Executive Director, Mike Heath. “I have spoken with officials who work closely with the League about the issue.”

Heath reports that all possible avenues on the local, state, and federal level are being explored to rectify this problem.

A recent survey of over 1300 British teens aged 16-18 years revealed that many of them do not use condoms correctly to begin with.

Condoms have been available since 2002 to King students who have parental permission to be treated at its student health center, but they are not required to advise their parents what “treatment” they receive.

At King Middle School, birth control prescriptions will be given after a student undergoes a physical exam by a physician or nurse practitioner, said Lisa Belanger, who oversees Portland's student health centers.

Students treated at the centers must first get written parental permission, but under state law specific treatment is confidential, and students decide for themselves whether to tell their parents about the services they receive, while the school is prohibited from doing so by Maine's privacy laws.