California Looking To Place Planned Parenthood Clinic On School Campus
A California school district is drawing attention for its recent proposal to add a Planned Parenthood clinic on site at a high school.
Since the Supreme Court overturned the longstanding Roe V. Wade ruling which gave women the legal right to an abortion, progressive states like California have become a beacon of hope for pro-choice activists, as the blue state has vowed to keep abortion legal for those who wish to seek this option. In fact, portions of the state are now looking to increase abortion access and targeting high schools, to many opposers’ dismay. Recently, pro-life activists have targeted a California school district, as it is now considering a proposal to place a planned parenthood clinic on a high school campus.
Yesterday, the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District located in Los Angeles County was set to vote on a proposal to place a Planned Parenthood clinic on-site at the John Glenn High School. Conservative groups and media outlets latched on to this report, drawing pro-life activists to rally outside of the board meeting area, according to reports from Newsweek. Because of concern over heated tension around the matter, the board decided to postpone the discussion to a later date.
Planned Parenthood, the nonprofit organization that’s mission is to serve females in their reproductive needs has been advocating for women’s rights since 1916, when the founding women first began handing out birth control at its first clinic in Brooklyn. Despite critics’ opposition to this proposal, the organization has worked with schools for a long time. They offer sexual education, which in part educates students on safe sex practices and other options for birth control.
Above all, pro-life activists oppose Planned Parenthood and its mission because of the fact that they support females’ rights to an abortion. These clinics give females seeking information about abortion the means to access information, and some clinics offer in-house abortions as well. Because of this, giving access to high school students in the direct form of an on-site clinic was enough to rile up anti-abortion activists, and lead many to fear that violence may have erupted at last night’s board meeting.
Newsweek reported that authorities were alerted beforehand that the situation may escalate, as reports that members of the far-right, often violence-seeking, group known as the Proud Boys would be in attendance. Also showing up to rally against the Planned Parenthood proposal were members of the conservative Latino organization known as Lexit. Others congregated as well to oppose transgender rights, as word let out that the clinic allegedly would support gender-affirming therapy for students at the high school as well.
Despite the outrage, abortion and gender-affirming treatment were not listed under the proposal as options that would be made available at this high school Planned Parenthood clinic. More than likely, it was to be set in place to provide healthy sex education, and possibly access to birth control items such as condoms, possibly birth control pills, and other offerings. Similarly, it would provide students with needed medical testing for sexually transmitted diseases. But for now, the measure will be placed on hold indefinitely, as the debate over abortion completely ousts one district’s plans to make healthy sex practices available to students who may have nowhere else to turn.
