<p>Our oh-so-caring Mayor Bloomberg is planning to roll out a pilot program in the NYC public high schools whereby girls can obtain emergency contraception without parental notification or consent. Thoughts?</p>
<p>I think it’s fine. IF the girls need emergency contraception, they clearly are already having sex – whether or not their parents approve – so they may as well prevent pregnancy.</p>
<p>i think it is a good thing. the bottom line is that kids will have sex if they want to. access to contraception will not make an abstinent kid have sex, but it will help sexually active kids practice safe sex.</p>
<p>I consider myself moderately pro-choice but this makes me absolutely crazed. Who is going to make sure that the girls’ medical and family histories and allergies are considered? Who is going to make sure that the girls receive appropriate follow-up care? Who is going to make sure that they get to an ER if things go wrong? Who is going to make sure that this is their own choice and not that of an adult with an agenda, a boy who doesn’t want to take responsibility, or the boy’s mother who cares only to protect her son? The vast majority of parents in the US are the best advocates and caretakers of their children and the state should not lightly impose itself on the parent-child relationship. The judicial opt-out features are appropriate and functional and that’s quite good enough. I’ve worked with Planned Parenthood for about 18 years and I vehemently disagree with this proposal and others like it.</p>
<p>By emergency contraception, do you mean the “morning-after” pill?</p>
<p>No. Plan B. It prevents pregnancy, doesn’t terminate an existing pregnancy as RU-486 does. It is still serious medication. I’m fine with condom availability and education, but I think Plan B goes too far.</p>
<p>Zoosermom,</p>
<p>Can you post a link to this news? I tried to google it and did not find anything. Bloomberg mentioned “emergency contraception” in his JHU commencement address, but there is no mention of public school – you seem to be referring to more specific news.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I don’t yet have a link. It was something said at a meeting I attended. I’ll post a link for you as soon as I get one.</p>
<p>although i personally had underage sex, it was as part of a relatively long-term relationship. the modern ethos of teenagers is rather more reckless. under what circumstances could a sensible self-respecting person need “emergency contraception”? sounds to me like a precaution after you’ve thoughtlessly had spontaneous unprotected sex with someone you’ve just met on the street.</p>
<p>I don’t oppose emergency contraception on its merits, but I do think parents should know what’s going on with their kids’ health. But please do bear in mind that I am not a fan of Mayor Bloomberg and am probably harder on him than I would be on another Mayor.</p>
<p>Do I have these items right?</p>
<p>Plan B is sold OTC in Canada</p>
<p>The head of the FDA here in the US rejected advice from their own medical people to make it OTC here as well.</p>
<p>It is considered effective up to 3 days after intercourse, but is considered more effective the sooner it is taken.</p>
<p>Dad Guy, you do have those facts right.</p>
<p>OK, good to know.</p>
<p>Can the underage in NYC get hold of other forms of birth control legally without the parents permission?</p>
<p>Is the answer different for condoms versus birth control pills?</p>
<p>The sky is falling the sky is falling!!!</p>
<p>The alternative is an unwanted pregnacy, an unwanted child and some futures ruined. This overreaction to someone’s personal choice options is soo wrong. Do you really think their will be a jam at the school nurse’s door every monday? </p>
<p>I have a D and if she felt she needed to use this service, I’d respect it. If I didn’t know or wasn’t informed, oh well. At least my D had enough sense at the end of the day to do what she felt was correct for her. </p>
<p>The dumbest things we do as parents is expect our children not to behave as we did. Of course no one in our generation drank,smoked, did drugs or had sex. These are all relatively new vices brought about in the last few years. As parents we should be honest with our kids about these things and how to deal with them via different options. Freedom of choice doesn’t mean forced abortions or contraception, it means having a choice to do something or nothing about a situation. Even without parental consent. Our job is to educate our children about the choices in front of them. Then you just hope you did a good job as a teacher.</p>
<p>I don’t see how this is an “imposition” on the parent-child relationship. Nothing prevents a girl from discussing it with her parents before or afterwards. I can see that it doesn’t impose parental involvement against the will of the daughter, but it seems to me that if parents have to rely on the government to make their daughter take them into her confidence on tough things like this, a law requiring the girl to choose between becoming pregnant or talking to her parents about birth control probably is probably too little, too late (as well as a way to ensure more abandoned newborns, abortions, and other less-than-desireable side effects.)</p>
<p>Wow Opie, thanks so much for telling me what my job is as a parent. I don’t know how I could have gotten to 17 and 14 with my daughters without your insight! </p>
<p>As I said, I don’t oppose emergency contraception, I oppose medical treatment for children without parental consent. If my daughter needed contraception, she would speak to me and we would get her to a fully-informed physician. Nowhere in my posts did I (or anyone else for that matter) indicate that I didn’t think my children wouldn’t be sexually active or would have a problem with responsible sex and birth control. But I do appreciate your ability to read my mind. That’s quite a gift you’ve got there.</p>
<p>"I don’t see how this is an “imposition” on the parent-child relationship. "</p>
<p>I respectfully disagree. But that’s ok. Intelligent people of good will can disagree and still be intelligent people of good will.</p>
<p>I don’t necessarily think that a teenager in an emotionally fraught situation will make good medical decisions, and I don’t think she will be in a position to provide medical and family history and allergies or to necessarily know what warning signs to look out for.</p>
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<p>That’s great for your daughters but not every young woman has that sort of relationship with their parents. Some girls are fending for themselves despite being underaged, some girls might face violent parental reactions to the need for emergency contraception, etc. I’d love to see Plan B readily available through school nurses, if not over the counter at the corner store.</p>
<p>“That’s great for your daughters but not every young woman has that sort of relationship with their parents. Some girls are fending for themselves despite being underaged, some girls might face violent parental reactions to the need for emergency contraception, etc. I’d love to see Plan B readily available through school nurses, if not over the counter at the corner store.”</p>
<p>Those girls are a lot more rare than you would think. The girls who are looking to avoid parental notification are much, much more likely to be normal, middle class girls who don’t want to disappoint their normal, middle class parents. The girls who face problems at home are more likely to CHOOSE to get pregnant. Which is a crying shame. I can see and respect your point, I really can, but I have a huge problem with Nanny Bloomberg continuing to insinuate himself and the government into private lives. No one has to agree, that’s absolutely fine, but name calling and “high-horsing” is unnecessary.</p>
<p>I’d like to say that I have no interest in changing anyone’s mind on this issue, I posted because I genuinely wanted to hear other points of view and believe I generally read those posts with respect and attempt to find common ground or learn something that I hadn’t considered before.</p>
<p>As I said, I’ve worked with Planned Parenthood for about 18 years now and am in no way an extremist on this or any other abortion/contraception/sex education issue. My core beliefs as a parent are that kids are not adults and need guidance, support, and education; that those things are almost always best provided by parents; that the state should interfere only in extreme situations; and that the parent-child bond is sacred.</p>