Portland area middle school to provide "the pill"?

Parents living in Maine may want to keep their eyes on this story at the Portland Press Herald. King Middle School is considering providing birth control pills and other contraceptives to students in grades 6-8.

My favorite line from the article is the following:

Of 134 students who visited King's health center during the 2006-07 school year, five students, or 4 percent, reported having sexual intercourse, said Amanda Rowe, lead nurse in Portland's school health centers.

"This is a service that is totally needed," Rowe said. "It's about very few kids, but they are kids who don't have the same opportunities and access as other students."

What "opportunities and access" is she talking about? Opportunities to decide not have sex, like the other 96% of their classmates? If they don't have a choice in that, they don't need pills. They need the police.

This blogger has posted extensively on the serious health risks associated with use of birth control pills. There are no words for how irresponsible it is to provide them to young girls who have barely even started puberty.

Portland, Maine: These are your tax dollars at work.

Nod: Tito