February 16, 2011 - 3:38pm
Maine can celebrate having one of the lowest abortion rates in New England and in the country; and it isn’t an accident. We proudly offer comprehensive sex education in our schools, access to birth control, reproductive healthcare, and family planning services.
Unfortunately there are now bills in the state legislature that would be designed to change these successful practices. According the Bangor Daily News, “Bills pending before the Legislature would tighten up parental notification requirements, impose a 24-hour waiting period and require the reading of a detailed description of the developing fetus… One measure would require parents to sign an “opt in” permission statement to allow their children to participate in school-based sex-ed classes that include information about birth control and pregnancy termination in addition to promoting sexual abstinence. Another measure would require parental consent before a teen could be provided with prescription birth control…”
Why would the legislature ever want to take a step backwards from policies and procedures that have been working so well for Maine? According to research by the Guttmacher Institute, Maine has continually fallen under the national averages, so why fix something if it isn’t broken?
“Maine has one of the lowest rates of teenage pregnancy and abortion in the nation,” said ACLU of MAINE Executive Director Shenna Bellows. “I am concerned that this assault on education, contraception and abortion will undermine the health and safety of women and girls in Maine.”
