NY High School To Provide STD, Pregnancy Testing With “Absolute Confidentiality”

July 28th, 2009 (8) Posted By Erik Wong.

condoms

Coming soon to a school district near you: On campus abortion clinics. It’s bad enough that some high schools these days have on-site daycare centers, but this is getting offensively absurd.

CBS:

PORT CHESTER, N.Y. ―Is it providing high school students a needed service or shutting parents out of their teen’s lives? A recent decision by the Port Chester Board of Education has some thinking it’s too much intrusion.

As Port Chester High School gets ready for the new school year, officials have signed off on a new service that will offer free testing for sexually transmitted diseases and even pregnancy testing to any student who asks.

“Like any other high school we have teen pregnancy so when a young lady comes down we can offer a test and guide her and refer them from that point,” Superintendent Donald K. Carlisle said.

Carlisle said it’s simply an extension of the comprehensive health services already provided to students. Students requesting the tests will be able to receive them without needing parental permission. Parents would also not be advised of test results.

Debra Gerson, a physician with Open Door, the group that runs the program, said that kind of confidentially is essential.

“There are times when they don’t feel safe and they really need to have a place where they can come and disclose,” Dr. Gerson said.

Port Chester parents CBS 2 HD spoke with were divided on that part of the program.

“Some of them are embarrassed so they can come to a counselor or a school nurse they trust and I think it’s a good thing,” parent Beatrice Alvarez said.

“I would like my children to count on me. I would like my opinion to be counted,” Solange Valencia said.

The school board president was the lone vote against the measure. In a newspaper interview, Anne Capeci said, “I would like ‘Open Door’ to use the medical facility downtown and not use the school as a quasi-maternity clinic.”

But school officials said this is just the reality of taking care of students in today’s world.

“I think this is progressive and I see this as a positive,” Carlisle said.

The Open Door clinics are federally funded. Among the services they provide are immunizations, physicals, and vision and hearing screenings.

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  • http://www alle

    Just one more slide down the slippery slope to oblivion. The fact is that this is creepy Americans doing creepy things to our own children. Hopefully the parents will rise up and sue these twisted thugs.

  • davey118

    unreal.. aside from taxpayers flipping the bill to support kids who have sex w/o accountability, this is beyond disgusting. could you imagine your 14 year old daughter having an abortion w/o you knowing.. w/o you being there… w/o your input… w/o your support?

    nobody has the right (especially school/gov) to keep information that important about a “child” from their parents.

  • JCD

    “Debra Gerson, a physician with Open Door, the group that runs the program, said that kind of confidentially is essential.”

    No it isn’t – the parents have a right to know. They are minors, and legally their rights are filtered through parental oversight and consent. Legally the parents should be asked for consent forms for this shit, but looks like the progressively destroying families progressives win out again.

  • JCD

    Since when is a school a health clinic anyway? People who attempt to justify this sicken me.

  • FLINT89

    Exactly. I really don’t have too much of a problem with this, considering it’s only allowing students easy access to STD testing and pregnancy testing, which would theoretically, and probably realistically cut down on STDs, and improve awareness. My problem is that they’re not informing the parents. First off high schoolers are MINORS. And parents are legally still make medical calls regarding their children’s well being. With-holding medical information from legal guardians will effect actions taken, and will result in mis-informed if not un-informed guardians making decisions for their charges.

  • FLINT89

    schools are not health clinics, but you do have to look at this. Would a teenager be more likely to drive/walk to some hospital down the road to get tested, or go to the school’s health office to get tested?

  • WestCoastGirl

    By law, if a 16 year old tells his/her doctor that they do not want their medical info shared with his/her parent, the doctor has to comply, even if they (the parents) are the ones who foot the bill. Doesn’t make any sense to me.

    Wonder how soon it will be before this group offers abortion services too?

  • lg

    Excuse me, I graduated from Port Chester High School in 2009. The school has the second highest teen pregnancy rate in Westchester Country. This Open Door is fairly new and has been extremely helpful to the students. It provides STI testing confidentially because teenagers are at high risk for being infected. Testing kids makes it possible for them to be treated and stop the spreading of infections. As for pregnancy tests, they are provided for all girls who come in for any kind of medical work. This is not some creepy test, it’s just a urine sample, no big deal. Pregnancy tests are a positive thing because students who are pregnant need guidance. Some students come from homes were they would be beaten if their parents found out they were pregnant. Open Door tried to prevent this. If a student is found to be pregnant, they will work with that student for a way to inform the parents but provide safety for the student. Lastly, the Open Door in Port Chester High School does and will never provide abortions. You are wasting your time making acusations about an issue that does not exist.

    “It’s bad enough that some high schools these days have on-site daycare centers, but this is getting offensively absurd.”
    May I ask what is bad about helping a young woman to continue her education after giving birth to a child at a young age? Would you rather young women stay at home, care for a baby, never get an education and never be able to feed herself or her child?