NYC schools dispensing morning-after pill to girls

[Dave]

I can't help but think that the priorities of certain government entities in the NYC area are a bit skewed. I've never really been crazy with keeping the parents out of the loop as it is when it comes to abortions and giving children the morning after pill is no different. I mean how odd is it that in a city where you can't drink a soda that is over 16oz, can't have trans fats, have to ask far salt if you want it that they are just gonna give young girls morning after pills? How does that make sense? If your a parent and you want your child to be picked up by another parent, you have to make prior arrangements and send in notes yet if your kid gets knocked up, you don't hear a word. Parents were supposedly sent letters that said that they could opt their child of the program... myself, I think a parent should opt their child in if they want the child to be a part of the program. Just a further sign of the crazy world we live in I suppose.

NEW YORK (AP) — It's a campaign believed to be unprecedented in its size and aggressiveness: New York City is dispensing the morning-after pill to girls as young as 14 at more than 50 public high schools, sometimes even before they have had sex.

The effort to combat teen pregnancy in the nation's largest city contrasts sharply with the views of politicians and school systems in more conservative parts of the country.

Valerie Huber, president of the National Abstinence Education Association in Washington, calls it "a terrible case once again of bigotry of low expectations" — presuming that teen girls will have sex anyway, and effectively endorsing that.

But some doctors say more schools should follow New York's lead.

Emergency contraception is safe and effective "if you use it in a timely fashion. It provides relief or solace to a young woman or man who has made a mistake but doesn't want to have to live with that mistake for the rest of their lives," said Dr. Cora Breuner, a Seattle physician and member of an American Academy of Pediatrics' committee on teen health.

Plan B emergency contraception is about 90 percent effective at preventing pregnancy if taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex.

New York's program was phased in at health clinics at about 40 schools in the 1-million-student school system starting about four years ago. Since January 2011, it has expanded to 13 additional schools that don't have clinics. The little-known program was reported on Sunday by the New York Post.

Nurse practitioners or physicians dispense the pills, and parents can sign an opt-out form preventing their daughters from taking part. Only about 1 to 2 percent of parents have opted out, according to the city Health Department.

The program is seen as a way to reduce a startling number: More than 7,000 New York City girls ages 15 to 17 get pregnant each year. More than two-thirds of those pregnancies end in abortions.

"We are committed to trying new approaches ... to improve a situation that can have lifelong consequences," the Health Department said in a statement.

In the 2011-12 school year, 576 girls got the pills at the 13 added schools, said Deborah Kaplan, an assistant health commissioner.

Felicia Regina, Parent Association president at Port Richmond High on Staten Island, has two teens at the school, a junior and a senior, and said she has never heard any parents voice objections.

"I do think it's a good idea," she said. "The children nowadays are not going to abstain from sexual intercourse. How many unwed mothers do we need?"

But Mona Davids, president of the New York City Parents Union, a volunteer group, opposes the program. She has a daughter who attends Laguardia High, not among the schools where Plan B is available.

She said parents should have to sign an "opt-in" form granting permission for Plan B instead. "When your daughter has gone on a trip, didn't you have to sign that it's OK for her to go on a trip?" she said.

Davids said emergency contraceptive is too serious a drug to give without parents' permission: "They can't even give our kids aspirin or Motrin without informed consent. This is a chemical hormonal drug cocktail."

Anne Leary, a conservative blogger in Chicago whose children are in their 20s, also said the idea is ill-advised and undermines parents' authority. Her own children attended high school in a Chicago suburb and were not offered emergency contraception at school.

"These kids are under 16, which is the age for statutory rape in most states. I just think it's subsidizing and encouraging behavior that's probably not healthy for kids that age," Leary said.

New York City's schools already offer regular birth control pills and condoms, just as many other schools around the country do. But emergency contraception is especially controversial.

Many scientists say Plan B works by blocking ovulation or fertilization. But Plan B's label says it may also prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus, and conservative activists who believe life begins at conception contend it amounts to an abortion pill.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says Plan B does not cause abortion or encourage risky sex, and it has called for the sale of the morning-after pill over the counter to help prevent teen pregnancies.

Last year, however, the Obama administration blocked plans to put the pills on drugstore shelves, keeping them behind the pharmacy counter. The contraceptive requires a prescription for those under 17 but is available to older women without a prescription if they show pharmacists proof of age.

Opposition to making Plan B available over the counter came mostly from conservatives and religious groups who said such a step would promote underage sex.

At least one high school in a Los Angeles neighborhood with a high teen pregnancy rate also offers emergency contraception in a partnership with Planned Parenthood.

Teen pregnancies have declined in recent years nationwide, a trend attributed partly to increased use of birth control.

The most recent government figures show the rate was about 70 pregnancies per 1,000 girls ages 15 through 19 in 2008. New York City's rate was 82 per 1,000 girls that year, and dropped to 73 per 1,000 in 2010. Nationwide, about 43 percent of girls ages 15 to 19 have had sex.

Some students on their way Tuesday to New York's Fashion Industries High School said they knew emergency contraception was available there, while others did not.

Glenesha Fernandez, a ninth-grader, said her mother opted out. "I said 'OK, I don't care,'" Glenesha said.

Yerenia Aybar, another ninth-grader, said girls her age shouldn't get the pill. "It might make students think it's OK to have sex," she said.

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner reported from Chicago.

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/ap/nyc-schools-dispensing-morning-af...

[Jane]

Why do blonds drink from straws? They need the practice. <---That is what my 11yr old 6th grader thought appropriate to come into my work and tell half the store.

About 4 weeks ago she started her as she calls it shark week. So even though she is young I talked about sex with her some more, we have been talking about it ever since she was born. She has known what it is in one way or another for years. I figured it would be easier to be open about it as part of life from a young age rather than bring it awkwardly up at a later time.

I was getting into more into the 4 incurable diseases part, Herpes, Hepatitis, AIDS, HPV and also pregnancy, and telling how the pill won't protect against those diseases and what they do to your body and we got off on a tangent about the pill and she says, to Quote, "well isn't there just the morning after pill?" WHAT! I am sure I spoke of it with her before but this was said very nonchalantly, like in a no big deal kind of way, The same as well isn't there coke if the store is out of pepsi? kind of way. Of course I said yes there is that but you don't want to get to the point where you need it, think ahead and be prepared.

Kids these days......

[Lisa O'Brien]

I can understand why they did it that way- if parents had to opt in it would get put on the back burner until they had time. Now that they have to opt out - the parents that are morally opposed will make it a priority to do so. 

[Dave]

You would think that... unfortunately, only about 1 or 2% of parents have actually opted out so far. I'd have to think that more parents would be opposed to this then just 1 or 2% but I could of course be wrong in that regard.. I've been wrong before and will surely be wrong again.. it just seems to be a pretty low number for as important of a topic.

[Lisa O'Brien]

1% to 2 % sounds about right to me, it's a different world out here. I can imagine that 70% wouldn't want any of the following: another mouth to feed, clothe,daycare. Things in the city are drastically different that in the suburbs. Housing is extremely small and costly. Jobs are scarce, many families both parents have to work 2 jobs to survive. Then you have to add the things many of us take for granted for me it was a laundry room, when I lived in the city there was nothing worse than schlepping all your dirty clothes to the launder mat  only for it to be completely filled and have to sit and wait for an open machine. The other 28% of parents are probably in denial that their little girl is even thinking about becoming sexually active.

[XLFD]

I think it's irresponsible for the schools to not ask permission to dispense these drugs to minor children without their parent's permission.  The drug companies will claim the side effects and risks are minimal, but this is a drug that does something dramatic stuff to your body, and  these shouldn't be dispensed without the consent of the person, or their parents if that person is an unemancipated minor. 

Here's a board from Women's Health that has anecdotal problems associated with taking emergency contraception, Plan B.  This isn't aspirin:   http://www.womens-health.com/boards/menstrual-cycle/17409-long-term...

[Willy]

This type of situation is none of the schools or Governments business. The more we let these progressive hacks get involved with our lives the worse things get. Do we really want to go down this path? Jane has taken the responsible route and educated her child. However we can expect even more personal intrusion when Obama care is fully implemented. This is only the beginning.