Tuesday January 12, 2010
School Refused Title X Funds for Blocking Access to Morning-After Pill
By Peter J. Smith
NORTH BERWICK, Maine, January 12, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Maine high school that had plans to offer contraception to students and screen for sexually transmitted diseases has been told that they cannot access federal funding for the project unless they drop their restrictions on distributing abortifacient “emergency contraception” or the “morning after pill.”
The Foster’s Daily Democrat reports that Noble High School was denied Title X “family planning” funds from the federal government on the basis that offering “emergency contraception” at the school’s health-clinic was a necessary prerequisite. Although the school’s health-center secured $18,000 in state funds, the school was denied matching funds from the federal government for that reason.
The School Board now faces the possibility of having to revisit the issue entirely if the slim chance that the federal government may reconsider its decision does not pan out.
Offering “sexual health” services to students was a hotly debated issue, and Foster’s reports that the plan passed the School Board in October only by a narrow 5-4 vote with the stipulation that the morning-after pill not be distributed to students and that no district funds pay for the project.