Plan B, birth control do not belong in schools
Some students as young as 14 have access to the Plan B morning-after pill and other forms of contraception, including the injectible Depo Provera, under New York City’s new CATCH plan.
CATCH, which stands for Connecting Adolescents to Comprehensive Health, is being implemented in 13 city schools by the New York City Department of Education.
The contraception will be available for sexually active teens, and they don’t need permission from their legal guardian. However, parents can sign a form that says their kids aren’t allowed to receive the medications.
The program has some experts saying the classroom is not the place for kids to be obtaining such medications.
“I am totally against it,” said Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing health editor of FoxNews.com. “It’s a very dangerous move.”
In New York City, about 7,000 girls get pregnant by the time they reach the age of 17, and more than half of them have an abortion. However, Alvarez said while NYC teen pregnancy rates may be up, the overall nationwide rates have gone down.