More Than 30,000 Americans Sign Petition Demanding Maine School District Remove Policy to Distribute Prescription Contraceptives
More than 30,000 people nationwide have signed on to a petition urging a Maine school district to change its policy to distribute prescription contraceptives to students as young as 11 without parental knowledge or consent. Earlier this week, we sent a letter to Portland school officials demanding that the policy be changed or face legal action. The Portland School Committee is scheduled to meet tonight and the issue is likely to surface at that meeting. The ACLJs state legal director, Steve Whiting, will attend tonights meeting.
We have heard from tens of thousands of Americans including Maine residents who find this policy extremely troubling a policy that must be removed. This policy clearly usurps parental rights and violates state law. The school district has a window of opportunity to correct this problematic policy. If that does not happen, we will not hesitate to bring a lawsuit on behalf of concerned parents to get this policy removed.
We have drafted a legal brief in the form of a demand letter to the Maine school district. We have demanded that the school district abandon its policy to distribute prescription contraceptives to students as young as 11 or face legal action to have the policy removed. We sent a letter to the Portland, Maine School Committee regarding a new policy in place at King Middle School. The policy clears the way for the school to administer prescription contraceptives including birth-control pills and patches to students between the ages of 11 and 15 without the consent of parents.
This policy is simply unacceptable and must be removed without delay as we have heard from Maine parents and residents outraged by the decision. This is a very troubling policy that clearly usurps parental rights and violates state law. The school district has a window of opportunity to correct this problematic policy. If that does not happen, we will not hesitate to bring a lawsuit on behalf of concerned parents to get this policy removed.
In our demand letter to the Portland School Committee, we contend that in addition to promoting a flawed policy that provides prescription contraceptives to young students without the knowledge of parents, the Committee is violating Maine law by not reporting all illegal sexual activity involving children 13 years old or younger.
Our letter states: 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 Committees 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.
Calling the policy deeply troubling, we contend the Committee is not only fostering criminal activity and child abuse, but is usurping parental authority and subjecting children to all kinds of health risks as well. We urge the Committee to put an end to this illegal activity, or the ACLJ will assist parents in bringing legal action against the Committee.
We told the Committee that our letter is on behalf of Portland parents who have contacted us, and on behalf of thousands of ACLJ members in Maine and throughout the country who have expressed their outrage and disgust over the Committees usurpation of parental responsibility to protect the health and morality of their children. We will let you know the outcome of tonights School Committee meeting.