King Middle School, which already provides its students with condoms, intends to become the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available, including birth control pills and patches.
According to the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care, about a quarter of middle school health centers across the nation dispense some form of contraception. However, spokesperson Divya Mohan told the AP that anything beyond condoms is "very rare" at that level.
The Portland initiative, however, is not without opposition. Portland School Board Chairman John Coyne says the move blurs the line between social services and the education system. Other opponents cite medical concerns, including fear that birth control pills and patches could place young girls at a greater risk of cancer.
"We are dealing with children," said Diane Miller, a former school nurse said. "I am just horrified at the suggestion."
In Maine, although students need parental consent to access school health services, treatment is confidential.
Portland's three middle schools reported 17 pregnancies carried to term during the last four years. That figure excludes miscarriages and terminated pregnancies.
The United States continues to have higher rates of teen pregnancy, birth, and abortion than almost every other industrialized nation in the world. According to a 2005 survey by the U.S. Center for Disease Control, by their first year in high school, one in three American teens has had sex at least once.
