A school board in Pennsylvania is considering a new proposal to allow the Planned Parenthood abortion chain access to its high school students.
Last year, the Reading School Board narrowly rejected a proposal to put a Planned Parenthood-run health center inside Reading High School after a strong public outcry.
But abortion supporters are trying again.
Under the new proposal, the abortion group would not run the health center inside the high school, but it still would be involved, according to the Reading Eagle.
The Co-County Wellness Services and Berks Teens Matter would run the center inside the high school, and funding would come from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, according to a board presentation Aug. 15.
However, Berks Teens Matter lists the abortion chain Planned Parenthood Keystone as a partner organization on its website, and the Aug. 15 presentation includes the abortion group on its partner list as well.
The proposed health center would provide “age appropriate” sexual and reproductive health education to students, one-on-one counseling and referrals to other agencies including Planned Parenthood. It also would provide condoms and organize health awareness campaigns for the school, according to the report.
Carolyn Bazik, executive director of Co-County Wellness Services, and Dr. Jen May, Berks Teens Matter project director, defended the abortion group’s participation in the program during the school board meeting last week.
According to the local news:
“What is Planned Parenthood providing on this list that could not be obtained by another organization on the list?” [board president Dr. Brian] Bureke asked.
The way Planned Parenthood is funded, most of its services are free, and for some students and families, some services might be cost prohibitive, Bazik said. …
She also pointed out that the high school has had a program for teen mothers for decades.
“You have been helping teen moms for 30 years to get through high school,” May said. “To make sure they get their diplomas and not get pregnant a second time before they graduate.
“This would help prevent those pregnancies from happening in the first place.”
Pro-lifers and parents, however, are concerned that the health center also could encourage vulnerable teens to abort their unborn babies when pregnancies occur.
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Local pro-life advocates are raising awareness about the new proposal and planning to protest again this year. The local chapter of Students for Life of America is organizing a rally at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the school district prior to the school board meeting.
Numerous communities across the United States have rejected Planned Parenthood as a sex education teacher inside its middle and high schools. Earlier this summer, the Massachusetts legislature rejected a bill that recommended Planned Parenthood’s middle school sex education curriculum. The program teaches children as young as 12 “how to perform oral and anal sex.”
In 2014, Live Action release an undercover video series showing Planned Parenthood employees encouraging young teens to participate in sado-masochistic sexual activities, including gagging, whipping, asphyxiation, shopping at sex stores and viewing pornography.
LifeNews also reported Planned Parenthood’s booklet for HIV-positive youth, “Healthy, Happy and Hot,” tells young people that it is their “human right” to not tell their partner that they have HIV.
Planned Parenthood teaches sex education to at least 221,000 students in 31 states, according to CBS News.
But the abortion giant is losing ground. Earlier this year, parents’ massive protests prompted a North Carolina school board to reject Planned Parenthood’s sex education program in its middle schools.
Concerned parents in Pennsylvania, Michigan, California, Washington state, New York and other parts of the country also have protested Planned Parenthood’s involvement in their students’ education in the past year.
In 2017, President Donald Trump’s administration cut taxpayer funding to one of Planned Parenthood’s sex education programs. HHS spokesman Mark Vafiades told the New York Times last year that there is very little evidence that the program to prevent teen pregnancies was successful. However, the abortion chain is suing to block the cuts.
ACTION: Email Dr. Brian Buerke, RHS board president, at [email protected] or call 484-258-7030.
