CNSNews.com - Maine School Won't Back Down, So Lawsuit Over Contraception Will Proceed

November 09, 2007
By Susan Jones, CNSNews.com Senior Editor

(CNSNews.com) - A conservative civil liberties group said it will proceed with a lawsuit against the Portland, Maine, School Committee for refusing the reconsider its policy on prescription contraceptives for middle school students as young as 11.

"This is an issue where the rights of parents must be protected," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which specializes in constitutional law.

"This is not only bad public policy but a violation of state law that simply cannot be ignored. There is tremendous outrage and disgust over the Committee's usurpation of parental responsibility to protect the health and morality of their children."

At a meeting on Wednesday, the chairman of the Portland School Committee said the threat of a lawsuit would not derail the school committee's decision to provide prescription contraceptives to students at King Middle School who ask for them.

At Wednesday's regular committee meeting, six people spoke against providing birth control at the middle school and nine spoke in favor of it, the Portland Press Herald reported.

Under the controversial policy, students must have parental permission to go to the school clinic, but once there, they may receive confidential care.

The ACLJ said it has heard from more than 40,000 Americans across the country, including hundreds of Maine residents, who consider the Portland school system's contraceptive policy "dangerous."

"Unless school officials make an 11th hour concession, we will move forward and file a lawsuit within a matter of weeks to remove this policy," the ACLJ said in a news release on Thursday.

The group plans to challenge the policy on the grounds that children may get prescription contraceptives without the knowledge or consent of their parents. The policy also violates Maine law by not reporting all illegal sexual activity involving children 13 years old or younger, the ACLJ said.

The ACLJ sent a letter to the Portland School Committee earlier this week calling the policy "deeply troubling" and warning that legal action would ensue unless school officials changed the policy.

"The failure of health center personnel to report all instances of sexual activity involving young children endangers the safety of those children and must be corrected. Moreover, the Committee's decision to offer prescription birth control to children as young as 11 years old tramples upon parental rights and has the effect of promoting illegal sexual activity."

The ACLJ urged the Committee "to put an end to this illegal activity, or the ACLJ will assist parents in bringing legal action against the Committee."

Sekulow said ACLJ attorneys are now reviewing their legal options available and will make a decision soon on whether the suit will be brought in state or federal court.

"We will be representing parents who have children in the middle school and are confident that our legal challenge will succeed," he said.