Maine Family Planning Advocates Expect Fight Over Parental Consent For Prescription Birth Control

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 05 Dec 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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Reproductive health advocates in Bangor, Maine, have launched a campaign -- called the Heart of ME campaign -- in anticipation of legislation to require parental consent for minors to receive contraception at school clinics and other health care providers, the Bangor Daily News reports. According to the Daily News, the issue of parental consent, "which went largely unnoticed for many years" in the state, began attracting attention when the Portland School Committee in October 2007 voted 7-2 to allow students at King Middle School to have access to contraceptives without parental consent.

State Sen. Doug Smith (R), who previously sponsored a failed bill that would have required parental consent for prescription contraceptives, has indicated he is considering revisiting the issue. The Daily News reports that other state lawmakers might also submit similar measures before the mid-January deadline for filing bills in the current legislative session. According to the Daily News, current Maine law does not require parental notification or consent for minors to be prescribed contraception as long as the prescriber believes that the minor would suffer "probable health hazards" -- such as unintentional pregnancy -- without the drugs. Emergency contraception also is available without parental consent in Maine, as are pregnancy testing and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

Kate Brogan -- a policy analyst with the Family Planning Association of Maine, which organized the campaign -- said the group's goal is to build a broad base of support to counteract what it anticipates will be aggressive campaigns on the other side of the issue. Groups working to enact parental consent measures are expected to include the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, the Maine Family Policy Council and the Jeremiah Project, which all have indicated support for parental consent in the past. Brogan said, "They want to reverse 35 years of state law. So we want an army of people to be ready to contact legislators and have this conversation" (Russell, Bangor Daily News, 12/3).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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