A proposal to hand out birth control at Denver’s school-based health clinics start has stirred up a hornet’s nest of controversy.
It should. It’s a serious issue involving our children.
But it’s also an issue that stirs up strong emotions from all sides, and before anyone gets carried away by the idea that schools will begin handing out the pill indiscriminately, it’s important to keep the facts in mind.
The proposal isn’t very detailed at this point, and it’s clear that the fine print will have a lot to do with how the community receives this idea.
For 20 years, these clinics have been the primary care provider for a growing number of poor kids who, by and large, don’t have a family doctor.
A partnership of a half-dozen agencies, including Denver Health, Denver Public Schools and The Children’s Hospital, runs the clinics. Last year, the 12 health centers provided nearly $3.9 million in free care and treated more than 6,800 students.
Most of them go to the clinic to get care for a routine illness or injury, or to get a physical examination or receive their required immunizations.
Six percent of clinic visits have to do with pregnancy. Another 6 percent are to deal with matters of reproductive health, which could include testing for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases or a routine gynecological exam.
As it stands, students seeking birth control are referred out of the clinic.
The proposal from a 43-member task force charged with charting the future of the clinic system suggested providing contraception in-house, and said each school principal should consult with the school’s community advisory committee to decide how students can access these services. That type of cooperation is key to making a plan like this work.
Parents now must sign a consent form at the beginning of each year before students can receive clinic services. If this proposal moves forward, the availability of contraception should be clearly stated on consent forms.
Parents also should be allowed to opt out if they don’t want their children receiving contraception from a school-based clinic, but still want access to routine health care services.
We understand the problems posed by teen pregnancy, but we also think it’s important that parents have a strong say in the health care services offered to their children while they’re at school.
That’s especially true when we’re talking about dispensing medication.
Before all the thunder is stolen by this one hot-button issue, we should keep in mind the wonderful work done by these school-based clinics, a program celebrating its 20th anniversary. It is to their credit that the program’s directors are willing to take on this controversial issue.
We hope to see a comprehensive and well-thought-out plan to proceed that has principals working with community groups and includes parents every step of the way.
