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Welcome to this Lady Things TEEN™Edition! Teens! They ALSO have to deal with patriarchy. And homework. :/
Sorry, sexually active youths of Hillsboro who aren't hoping to appear on Sixteen and Pregnant: The four dudes on the Hillsboro School District Board just voted not to allow Century High School's health clinic to offer birth control.
The three women on the school board voted for access, but alas, three is not more than four. It's important to get these math lessons in while you can, because once you're raising babies, you won't have much time for school.
According to a story posted today on Jezebel, "The Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center wanted to offer birth control services on the Century High School campus." It should have been so simple! The health center at Century High School is one of six school-based health centers operated by Virginia Garcia Health Centers in the Portland area. Two of those centers, in the Beaverton School District and Willamina School District, have explicit permission to prescribe contraception to students. The other four, including Century in Hillsboro, do not.
"Each district and board makes their own decision," says Olivia MacKenzie, public relations officer for Virginia Garcia Health Centers. "Without an explicit agreement, we would not provide contraception."
In Hillsboro, the Virginia Garcia contract came up for renewal and the health center wanted clarification.
The Oregonian notes that Virginia Garcia is already allowed to provide pregnancy tests, Pap smears and STD checks, but it can't prescribe contraception. That, mixed with the lack of easy and safe local options for students looking for contraception, led Virginia Garcia to ask for permission to prescribe it.
But conservative parents' groups, like Parents Rights in Education, took issue with that.
In a recent newsletter, Parents Rights in Education told readers to beware of Virginia Garcia health clinics. "In the state of Oregon, your child can access contraceptive care at any age without your consent or knowledge," says the newsletter. "So, a SBHC [school-based health clinic] might dispense birth control pills or insert an IUD to your 12-year-old daughter without your knowledge or consent."
They urged parents to contact their school boards to deal with this nightmare scenario of a not-pregnant 12-year-old.
The men of the Hillsboro School Board must have gotten the call. Tuesday's vote means kids will have to continue to use public health options. Too bad the public health clinic in Hillsboro is only open two days a week. Oh well.
Abi Iliesi, an 18-year-old senior at Century High School, told me via text (she was adorably "multitasking") that at her school even condoms aren't available to students.
"The only time you'd ever even SEE contraceptives would be in health class," she writes. "But they would be pictures on PowerPoint slides, not actual physical contraceptives."
Iliesi says this means kids have to resort to lying to their parents and sneaking around to get contraception.
"The problem with free clinics is that it makes it really tough for kids to find transportation and hard to find an excuse to go without tipping off disapproving parents," she says.
She says she has actually driven friends to the community health center so they could get contraception.
"They had no way of getting to the clinic because they could not drive and were afraid, as teenage girls, to ride the bus alone," she writes. "All three of my friends lied to their parents, saying they were working on a project with classmates. They were afraid of being kicked out, beaten and shunned by their families for getting on the pill."
So, sounds like this vote is a major success! Of course, the kids who can will still try to get birth control and the kids who can't will get…pregnancy tests. Luckily for them, Century has a program for teen moms!
Hey! Lady Things reader! Yeah, you. Sit down for a sec. We have to talk. Tomorrow is my last day at Willamette Week. I know you're sad! I'M sad! This place is fucking awesome, and I will miss it like I miss the sexy arms I had when I was rock climbing every day. But, good news, I'm not leaving the world just yet. Instead, I'm going to The Oregonian, where I will continue to write about stuff you'll probably care about! See! This isn't goodbye, it's just see you soon, in a different font, under a different masthead! If you want to keep following me, I'm on Twitter @lizzzyacker. And I've started a new newsletter too. I'm calling it "Lizzy Things" and I plan to keep writing about the disgusting, tragic and magical experience of being a woman. I love you, reader who has read this far. Thanks for sticking with it. Let's talk soon, OK?!
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