North Carolina public schools are preparing for the fall implementation of the Healthy Youth Act, which mandates that seventh and eighth graders be instructed in “the effectiveness and safety of all FDA-approved contraceptive methods in preventing pregnancy.” These methods include the male condom, female condom, diaphragm with spermicides, sponge with spermicide, cervical cap with spermicide, spermicide alone, the birth control pill, the birth control patch, the vaginal contraceptive ring, a contraceptive shot/injection, the morning-after pill, the IUD, the implantable rod, and sterilization. Some of these contraceptive methods are also abortifacient.
The 2009 law, opposed by the state’s bishops, was backed by Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice NC (the state branch of the former National Abortion Rights Action League), and the state teachers’ union (the North Carolina Association of Educators). Parents are permitted to exempt their children from the instruction.
The passage and implementation of the Healthy Youth Act follows the 2008 election of North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue, Lieutenant Governor Walter Dalton, and Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson, all of whom received the endorsement of NARAL (formerly the National Abortion Rights Action League) because of their support for legalized abortion.
The Healthy Youth Act is not the only issue that has raised questions about the direction of public education in North Carolina. In Februrary 2010, the state’s Department of Public Instruction published a revised civics curriculum that compared pro-life laws to oppressive pro-segregation legislation; that proposal was withdrawn following opposition by the state’s bishops. The state’s revised US history curriculum would have eliminated the study of pre-1877 American history during the high school years; that curricular change was also abandoned after intense grass-roots opposition. In addition, State Superintendent June Atkinson announced earlier this year that all statewide mathematics tests would incorporate a framework developed by a firm whose president, Malbert Smith, donated $2,000 to her election campaign.
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Healthy Youth Act (State of North Carolina)
- Birth control guide (FDA)
- Healthy Youth North Carolina Coalition
- Victory for NC bishops as state abandons plan to compare pro-life laws to segregation (CWN, 2/22/10)
- NCDPI Adopts New Math Measure To Boost Student Achievement (Department of Public Instruction)
- Campaign Finance Transaction Inquiry (State of North Carolina)
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