New York City Schools Putting Young Girls at Risk

Imagine this: A mother hands her 14 year old daughter a signed permission slip for next week’s field trip as she drops her off at school. That afternoon, she is called to grant permission for her child to be given ibuprofen and, then later, to come in to sign her out of school because of severe cramps. While a parent’s consent is required for small day-to-day goings on at the school, she is kept in the dark about one very important thing. Little does this mother know that the reason her daughter is feeling so sick is because the school gave her Plan B, the morning after pill, side effects of which include, but are not limited to: lower abdominal pain, nausea, fatigue, headache, and dizziness. This mother has no idea but is left to deal with the consequences.

This situation is happening to thousands of parents in New York City. Last week, the New York Post reported that the number of doses of Plan B being given out in city schools more than doubled from 5,039 in the 2009-2010 school year to 12,721 in 2011-2012, far higher than previously reported. Parents aren’t being told anything about the drugs – including birth-control pills, intrauterine devices (IUDs), hormone-delivering injections and devices – being put into their young daughters’ bodies in schools because according to New York state law, children don’t need parental consent or notification. …