BANGOR, Maine, May 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – School Administrative District 27, Portland Maine, is fighting a lawsuit brought by a former school nurse. Lola Charette was fired for taking one of the students, without parental consent, out of class to an off-campus ‘clinic’ where the girl was given a pregnancy test and an abortifacient drug.
Charette is suing Fort Kent Community High School in U.S. District Court in Bangor for reinstatement and lost wages saying that she had been presented with an impossible conflict between the law and her orders from superiors. Charette’s lawyer pointed out the dilemma, “She follows the law, which she has no control over, and gets fired in the middle of a school year.”
The case is highlighting the rift between the law, which adheres to the conflicting dictates of political correctness, and the actual desires and moral views of the public. The law prohibits a health-care provider from divulging medical information without the patient’s consent. The School board contends that though the law allows minors to consent to medical intervention without parental notification, the nurse violated an ‘unwritten’ rule that allows parents to intervene. School Superintendent Sandra Bernstein ordered Charette to inform the girl’s parents.
Charette said that she tried to convince the girl to speak to her parents but the girl refused and would not give her permission for Charette to speak to them. Wanda Miller, executive director of the National School Nurse Association said that nurses risk losing their license if they violate confidentiality rules.
The letter of dismissal says Charette was fired for “exercising poor judgment” in assisting students in obtaining “medical services without notifying the parents or the administration.”