What is at stake? The lives of children
Children are what is at stake. Why do parents have to sign medical release forms when they play youth sports but parents are often pushed out if it involves contraceptives? A middle school up in Maine just created a policy that will allow children (as young as 11!) to obtain prescriptions for birth control medications from the school clinic without the parents knowing.
Check out Lis Wieh’s column on it. Here is an excerpt:
Here’s the kicker in my mind: the age for consent for sex in Maine is 14. So, I could certainly make the argument that by providing contraception for children as young as 11 (well below the legal age), the school and health department are complicit in statutory rape or sexual assault. That’s not just wrong … that’s criminal!
Children are vulnerable and they need their parents to protect them. Who is the ultimate loser here? Not the rights of parents but the lives of children.
Here is a video that presents the issue in terms of parental notification on abortion from a campaign in California:
