A Pennsylvania school board approved a plan Wednesday to establish a reproductive health center inside its high school that will be run by partners of Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion group in America.
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.
However, this summer, the board quietly moved forward with a similar plan, and on Wednesday, approved it in an 8-1 vote, WFMZ reports.
Planned Parenthood’s name is not prominent in the new plan, but it still will be involved in the student center. The three groups that will run the center, Berks Teens Matter, Co-County Wellness Services and AccessMatters, are closely connected to the abortion chain and refer patients there.
Berks Teens Matter lists Planned Parenthood Keystone as a partner organization on its website, and its Aug. 15 presentation to the school board said it would refer students to the abortion group.
According to the presentation, the 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 Reading Eagle.
Students would have access to the reproductive health center before, during and after school unless their parents opt them out of the program, the local news reports.
Proponents argued the center is needed because teen pregnancy rates are higher in Reading than other parts of the state.
WFMZ reports more:
After the vote, an emotional Jen May, project director of Berks Teens Matter, stated that the margin of the passing vote “speaks volumes to the school board’s dedication to students.”
When asked what made the proposal different to the public and to the board this year, May stated two words, “Planned Parenthood.” She felt that the proposal from last year, which included a coordinator staffed by Planned Parenthood left some people with a bad taste for the program, whereas the consensus was different with this proposal including a coordinator staffed by AccessMatters.
It was clarified this evening that students, or parents of students on their behalf, can opt out of the service. This means that parents could essentially prevent their children from utilizing the services of the resource center.
Yet, all indications are that the abortion chain will be closely involved in the health center.
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Berks Teens Matter lists Planned Parenthood as one of its partner agencies, with which it works to “define the problem,” “create solutions” and “foster mutually reinforcing activities.” The group also says it “encourages continuous communication” with Planned Parenthood and its other partner agencies, including Co-County Wellness Services.
And AccessMatters, which will provide a staff person to run the center for 20 hours a week, lists Planned Parenthood centers among its top patient resources.
Pro-lifers and parents are concerned that the health center would not just teach sex education and promote birth control, but also encourage vulnerable teens to consider aborting their unborn babies.
Numerous communities across the United States have rejected Planned Parenthood as a sex education teacher inside their 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 ALERT: Email Dr. Brian Buerke, RHS board president, at [email protected] or call 484-258-7030.
