Portland, ME Press Herald - Christian Group May Sue Schools Over Portland's Birth Control Controversy

November 6, 2007
By Josie Huang, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald

A conservative law firm founded by televangelist Pat Robertson is threatening to sue the Portland School Committee about a plan to make prescription contraceptives available to middle school students.

The American Center for Law & Justice is demanding that the School Committee drop its support for a plan to give students who use the health center at King Middle School access to birth control.

The legal group said that at the very least the committee must ensure that only students ages 14 and up have access, and only with written permission from their parents.

"When I was in school, you couldn't get an Advil without parental notice," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the D.C.-based organization and host of the radio show "Jay Sekulow Live!"

The group said Monday that it is sending Portland lawyer Stephen Whiting, the group's state director, to monitor the School Committee's meeting Wednesday. If the committee does not fulfill the law group's ultimatum, it will file suit within days on behalf of Maine parents that have contacted the group, Sekulow said.

But the issue is not even on the agenda Wednesday, said John Coyne, chairman of the School Committee.

"It troubles me that we've got big-time groups trying to come in and hone in on a small town of 65,000 people," Coyne said. "This is not a national thing. This is local politics."

A lawsuit would be a big blow to the Portland School Department, which has already run through its $108,000 legal budget for the year. Lawyers from Drummond Woodsum worked on issues related to a $2 million budget deficit that led to the resignations of the superintendent and finance director.

Coyne said the School Committee potentially could tap into $520,000 saved through a hiring freeze, but he said the hope had been to use that money to pay back the city for covering the budget deficit.

School Committee members said the law group's focus on their decision was misdirected.

Robert O'Brien, who chairs the policy committee, said the panel was simply ratifying a plan put forth by the health center at King, which is overseen by the city's public health division.

He called the decision a "courtesy vote."

"(The health center) could have offered the contraception without our permission," O'Brien said. "They've offered dental services in the past without School Committee consent."

O'Brien acknowledged that as the health center's landlord, the School Committee technically could take its space away.

"But the City Council, which has direct authority of the health center, could in turn put pressure on the School Committee," O'Brien said. "There are lots of checks and balances."

The law firm said it is appalled by the health center's "permissive attitude toward sexual activity by children" and is worried about preserving parental rights, according to a letter it said it e- mailed to the School Committee on Monday.

The law firm, founded by Robertson in 1990, is among the best- known Christian legal groups because of its battles against same-sex marriage and abortion. It recently represented Illinois pharmacists who refused to dispense emergency contraception.

The organization has championed its causes in Maine. In 2004, Cumberland County Superior Court rejected a complaint filed by the group on behalf of several married couples who objected to Portland's domestic partnership ordinance.

The group was also on the losing side of a 2003 court battle about whether Maine communities without their own schools should have to pay tuition for residents who want to attend religious schools. Whiting represented the organization in both cases.

Whiting said he does not expect to speak at Wednesday's School Committee meeting -- a right given only to Portland residents. His report back to the group, though, will help it decide "where we go from here," he said.