A high school in Maine may soon be able to offer “reproductive health care” to underage students without parents’ knowledge or approval — and some parents are concerned.
The Maine School Administrative District 11 is considering opening a clinic operated by HealthReach, a Maine-based chain of community health centers, in Gardiner Area High School. The original goal of the clinic was to fill gaps in legitimate health care —but it seems plans have changed.
“Seeing how difficult the changes have been to access health care or primary care in central Maine — and some of the waits are eight to 19 months to get in — I’ve had a lot of students maybe not go to their primary care during the pandemic and now are trying to establish that care,” Nora Diversi, the lead nurse at School Administrative District 11, said. “That’s just outside the other barriers of transportation, homelessness, lack of health insurance … all those social factors are at play on top of a system that is not as accessible. It’s the perfect storm.”
Examples of care to be offered at the health center included physicals and vaccinations, not supposed “reproductive health care.” However, after questioning from parents, it was admitted that some students receive confidential services there, including transgender-related services, prescription medications, and “reproductive health care,” frequently a code word for abortion.
READ: Will a Sam’s Club membership now help a woman kill her preborn baby?
Diandra Staples, the assistant director of operations at HealthReach, claimed this is rare, saying that just seven of 181 students who used the Bulldog Health Center at Lawrence High School used such confidential services.
“I’ll tell you, those seven kids, they don’t have that support system — they generally don’t have parents,” Staples said. “They generally are living on somebody’s couch. They don’t have that, and it’s kind of a dangerous situation to get that information out to others.”
MaineWire reported that 40% of the yearly revenue for HealthReach came from prescription drugs. The Bulldog Health Center at Lawrence High School sent a minor home with a baggie full of unlabeled pills, which turned out to be Zoloft — an anti-depressant. When the minor’s father contacted the center, they brushed the issue off, saying they were allowed to dispense prescription drugs to his underage daughter without his knowledge.
For now, at the very least, the new center in Gardiner could refer students for abortions, according to the Daily Signal, and give students birth control — all without their parents’ knowledge. Allen Sarvinas, Maine chapter chair of Parents’ Rights in Education, said he is worried that this will cause a chain reaction for students, leading to more medications for them — and more money for the center.
“These medical clinics being placed directly in the schools are providing as much sex-based treatment from IUDs to birth control,” he said,” which is leading to side effects that then lead into more depression pills.”
Gardiner Area High School would not be the first in the nation to implement a clinic in its school. San Antonio High School in California has a health center that gives students “reproductive” care, and Planned Parenthood has opened similar centers at schools.
Tell President Trump, RFK, Jr., Elon, and Vivek: Stop killing America’s future.
Defund Planned Parenthood NOW!
