By Micaiah Bilger
Life News
A Pennsylvania school board voted Wednesday against a measure to put a Planned Parenthood-run facility inside Reading High School.
WFMZ News 69 reports the Reading School Board voted 5 to 4 against the proposal as a large group of protesters gathered outside and in the meeting.
The sex education advocacy group AccessMatters first proposed the Planned Parenthood-run center in May 2017. The group asked the school board to approve putting the center inside the high school — giving the abortion chain direct access to young, vulnerable students.
The Reading Eagle reports the facility would not do abortions at the high school, but Planned Parenthood staffers would offer students sex education, counseling about reproductive health and referrals to their abortion facility in Reading. In addition, the center would have been paid for by tax dollars.
Here’s more from the local news:
Dozens of protesters and supporters lined the outside of the district administration building on Washington Street ahead of the vote. Tensions were expectedly high. …
Even Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale — who was against the center — felt compelled to join the protesters in Reading.
“I felt that this issue was so important that it was worth making the trip to Berks County because it comes to our youth,” said Gale. “What our youth should not be learning is that abortion is a form of birth control.”
Some board members who voted “no” said they weren’t totally against the health resource center, but had concerns with not having enough solid information about it, or concerns with its political optics.
Dan Bartkowiak, director of communications for Pennsylvania Family Council, who was at the meeting Wednesday, said the public did not want Planned Parenthood in its local high school.
“We heard from the board that contacts they received were overwhelmingly against the proposal,” Bartkowiak said. “And many across Pennsylvania made their voice heard as well since every taxpayer would have helped pay for this proposed program.”
Planned Parenthood Keystone sent out a scathing comment after the vote, claiming that those opposed to the center “don’t care about our children” and were not local residents.
This is not true. LifeNews learned that a number of local pro-life groups, including Pro-Life Berks and the young adults group Lehigh Valley Pro-Life Future joined local residents in opposing the measure.
By Claire Chretien
Life Site News
Massive outcry from pro-life students and activists caused a Pennsylvania school board to pull a proposal for the establishment of a Planned Parenthood-run "sexual health counseling center" inside a high school.
However, the fight isn't over. The board will likely debate the proposal at another time and vote on it in August.
The pro-abortion group AccessMatters suggested the creation of a "sexual health counseling center" inside Reading High School and run by Planned Parenthood. This center would focus "primarily [on] counseling services and condoms," according to the Reading Eagle, and "Planned Parenthood Keystone would manage daily operations."
AccessMatters runs "community-based programs" that deal with issues like "teen pregnancy prevention and education" and "LGBT health disparities." It admits that its in-school clinics funnel students to places where they can receive "sexual and reproductive health services," often a euphemism for abortion and contraception.
"Our unique position within the sexual and reproductive health care community allows us to not only have a real-time understanding of the needs of our communities, but also anticipate those needs," its website says. "This vantage point allows us to respond with programs that improve individuals’ quality of life, support them through difficult or dramatic life changes, and assist them in strengthening health promoting behaviors. Through our unique abilities to engage and empower even the hardest-to-reach populations, we are closing the gap between those with access to sexual and reproductive health and those without."
AccessMatters says its "school-based health resource centers" provide "confidential school-based places where students can receive counseling and education, condoms, and referrals to community-based providers for sexual and reproductive health services."
"If Planned Parenthood is allowed to be inside Reading High School, they are going to replicate this model in high schools – and likely middle schools – across the country. They cannot be allowed prime access to our children," said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America.
The Reading school board was scheduled to discuss the proposal on Wednesday, but it was pulled from the meeting's agenda at the last minute without notice.
"It had apparently been pulled [at the] last minute after seeing us," Michael Israel of LeHigh Valley Pro-Life Future, who was at the meeting, told LifeSiteNews. He noted that the Reading school board requires "a one-meeting pause between discussion and voting."
