A mother from Oklahoma allowed her daughter to go on an educational field trip with school. Upon the daughter’s return, her mother was informed that she now has a three-year chemical contraceptive implant inside her arm.
Every year Langston Hughes Academy hosts a sex-ed class by Youth Services of Tulsa. When Miracle Foster’s daughter was eager to learn more, the Mom allowed her to visit the clinic.
Youth Services of Tulsa is however part of the Tulsa Area Teen Pregnancy Prevention Collaborative, whose PregNOT program began in 2010 with $1.5 million in tax funding from the Obama Health and Human Services’ Office of Adolescent Health. The institution’s stated goal is to reduce pregnancy among poor youth ages 11-19 via “youth-friendly” contraceptives.
The government agency surgically implanted the Norplant chemical birth control device inside Foster’s daughter’s arm, according to Foster.
Youth Services of Tulsa says that they legally do not have to tell a parent when contraceptives are implanted inside schoolchildren. Title X allows for youth from the age of 12 to receive “birth control” — even abortifacient contraceptives — without a parent’s consent.
The Academy principal also defended the action. He said that the school merely transported teens to the clinic.
Principal Rodney L. Clark released a statement saying “The student was well within her rights of Title X, which is a federal guideline that provides reduced-cost family planning services to persons of all reproductive age.”
“I just feel like my rights as a parent were violated,” a distraught Foster said . “I feel like the school is responsible. I think they should’ve given us more information, because like I said, I thought she was going to get information. … So, therefore, she could come back home and we could discuss what was best for my child.”
“I think that is something that a mother and a daughter should discuss,” Foster said, weeping.
Clark was asked whether or not parents were given an opt-out form to remove their children from the annual sex-ed class. Clark said that an opt-out form was provided by Youth Services of Tulsa, however, Foster said she never received an opt-out form. Instead, she said that Clark called her for permission to allow her daughter to visit the clinic.
Foster said that she has not only been offended but has been deeply hurt by the whole incident. “So many people are saying negative stuff,” she said. “This has really taken a toll on me, seriously.”
The Norplant contraceptive implant has been linked to several health problems. It’s chemical, Levonorgestrel, causes severe hormonal changes and cervical cysts. The implants have also been known to dislodge and get lost in a woman’s body, and in some cases cause permanent sterility.
Norplant was even taken off the U.S. market in 2002, but manufacturer Wyeth-Ayerst continued to produce it with U.S. tax dollars for vulnerable poor women in Third World countries until 2006. Then, a new manufacturer, Bayer Healthcare, has renamed the drug and contracted with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to manufacture and distribute it to international population control groups.