Birth Control Pills For Sixth Grade Girls?
SANCHEZ: It's an amazing story. Tonight, a hot button issue involving our children and birth control. I want you to hear this first.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is the ramifications of what you are considering is mind-boggling to me. I just can't believe we would be this irresponsible.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all better consider it down the line because you all are going to be responsible for that, the devastating effects on young women when this goes through.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say we're not educating our kids. We're actually avoiding our responsibilities, and that's sad.</s>SANCHEZ: Well, those are the parents at a school board meeting in Portland, Maine. After it was over, the committee voted seven to two in favor of giving birth control, free birth control pills, I should say to girls as young as 11 if the girls ask. In the past three years, 17 girls in Portland, 6th, 7th, 8th, have gotten pregnant. The same school has been giving free condoms, by the way, to boys for seven years. An old saying says, "As Maine goes, so goes the nation." Is that the case here? Joining me now, one of the committee members who voted for the program, Lori Gramlich. Lori, thanks so much for being with us. Can you try to explain to the American people why any child should ever get birth control pills without their parents directly signing off on it?</s>LORI GRAMLICH, SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER: Well, let's be perfectly clear here. I know a lot of the lead-in story that you folks had was giving 11-year-old birth control pills like we're handing out candy at the supermarket and that is not at all the case.</s>SANCHEZ: OK.</s>GRAMLICH: We have health clinics at a number of our public schools in the city of Portland, two of our high schools and several of our elementary schools as well as our middle school, King Middle School. And as part of that health clinic at our schools, we have services that parents can opt in for. When the first day of school rolls around, they have an enrollment form that they fill out and complete giving their permission for the child to take advantage of health care services.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, health care services. Of course, I would sign that. I would want my child, in case there's an emergency, to provide health -- to have a health care services provided for them. I would want them to be able to talk to a counselor. I would want all those things. But the moment there's a decision that's being made to give birth control pills to my daughter, I need to know. I need to sign off on it, and that's the difference, Lori.</s>GRAMLICH: Well, you can opt out of having your child participate in -- to get services at the clinic.</s>SANCHEZ: But that's not fair. But then you're telling me -- but then you're telling me --</s>GRAMLICH: Excuse me, wait, let me finish. Let me finish.</s>SANCHEZ: OK, go ahead.</s>GRAMLICH: Let me finish, please.</s>SANCHEZ: Go ahead.</s>GRAMLICH: If, if -- thank you. If you have a child at King Middle School, for example, who needs to go to the school nurse because he or she has a headache or is feeling sick in any way, that child will go to the school nurse and receive the care that he or she needs. If you want your child to be seen by doctors at the health clinic, you have to opt in. You have to give your permission for that child to receive those services.</s>SANCHEZ: But that doesn't seem fair.</s>GRAMLICH: You can opt out.</s>SANCHEZ: But that doesn't seem fair?</s>GRAMLICH: Fair to whom?</s>SANCHEZ: You're saying the only way you could see it --</s>GRAMLICH: Fair to whom?</s>SANCHEZ: Fair to the parents. You're saying the only way you could see a doctor at the school is if you agree to have your child be given birth control pills. That's what you just said.</s>GRAMLICH: I'm saying that -- let me give you an example to help clarify it.</s>SANCHEZ: OK.</s>GRAMLICH: It's Rich. Is that right?</s>SANCHEZ: Rick.</s>GRAMLICH: Let me give you an example, Rick, I'm sorry. I have a 14-year-old daughter who is a freshman at Deering High School, one of our public high schools in town. Her first day of school, we got the enrollment form and when I reviewed the enrollment form, I opted out. And I opted out because I have a doctor for my child. I have -- between she and I, we each have our own eye doctor. We each have our own dentist. We each have our own practitioner and so I did not need to have my child to go into the health clinic to get medical care.</s>SANCHEZ: I get that. I get that. But the confusing part for us and for our audience is why medical care is equated with birth control bills, but I thank you for the explanation. Lori Gramlich ...</s>GRAMLICH: That's OK.</s>SANCHEZ: ... it's very nice to come on and explain that to us. We've got another part of this story, by the way, because this is certainly going to be the type of story, a concern for many parents. And to get that side of the story, we went to our own Glenn Beck. He's been sounding off on this all week on. Here's Glen and myself.</s>SANCHEZ: The school is saying, we don't want to do this.</s>GLEN BECK, CNN: No.</s>SANCHEZ: And we don't think it's a good idea for the kids to do this.</s>BECK: Right.</s>SANCHEZ: But if it's to the point where we think they're going to do it, then we want them to be prepared and we want them to be protected.</s>BECK: Let me tell you something. That's exactly right. That's why I'm going to start giving booze to my kids. My kids -- they're young. They're going to drink anyway. You know that. You know kids, they're going to drink. So why have the kids go stand out in front of a convenience store trying to convince some stranger to buy beer for them. I'll buy it for them. They can drink. Now, if they can just get the school to provide some Tums and some aspirin for them because they are going to have hangovers.</s>SANCHEZ: Let me bring this argument to you then.</s>BECK: Yes.</s>SANCHEZ: What about the idea that boys are given condoms and no one seems to have been complaining about that?</s>BECK: You can say that condoms -- and this is the kind of way it weaseled in. Condoms are for safety. Condoms are because of disease. Sex can kill you today. You got to have condoms.</s>SANCHEZ: But there's a delicate balance here, and the delicate balance is I understand the moral issue. I'm a dad. It frightens me to even think about this when it comes to my daughter.</s>BECK: Yes.</s>SANCHEZ: On the other hand, I do understand that there is an importance in making sure that an 11-year-old or a 12-year-old doesn't end up pregnant because that would be worse than the moral issue.</s>BECK: OK. Here's a couple of things, a couple of serious points. First of all, it is against the law for an 11, 12, 13 or below to have sex in Maine, OK.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes.</s>BECK: It's on the books, already gone through court, everything else.</s>SANCHEZ: You're right. Against the law.</s>BECK: Got it. Against the laws.</s>SANCHEZ: Right.</s>BECK: We're teaching our kids to disobey the law.</s>SANCHEZ: It's a conflict.</s>BECK: Right.</s>SANCHEZ: Here's the point. If we could work out a way where the parents are in on it somehow because I think that's the biggest problem here.</s>BECK: Rick, Rick, I'm with you.</s>SANCHEZ: If it's against my religion, if it's against my morals, I don't want the school making decisions for my child.</s>BECK: Here's the second point, more important than the law.</s>SANCHEZ: All right.</s>BECK: The second point is you're usurping my responsibility as a parent without any consequences. If I said to you, my kid is going to drink so I'm going to let my kid get drunk at the house because it's that a responsible thing to do as a parent. People would line up in parade routes to get that kid away from me.</s>SANCHEZ: Here's the point. Let's suppose they have a rule that says from now on, only children whose parents have said it's OK for them to come to the center and get whatever we give them, we'll treat? Would you go along with that?</s>BECK: That's fantastic.</s>SANCHEZ: Why?</s>BECK: As soon as you repeal the law that says a child is too young to make that emotionally or intellectually, that's what the courts have said in Maine. As soon as you change that law, in the meantime, don't tell me that you can do it for sex, but you can't do it for alcohol.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes.</s>BECK: I mean it makes no sense.</s>SANCHEZ: It's a conflict. Glenn Beck, as usual. Great to have you here.</s>BECK: You bet.</s>SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.</s>SANCHEZ: All right. We're coming back in a moment with more on our hour's breaking news. The terror bombing in Pakistan, the reaction that's coming here in the United States. Also, we got late breaking news now. Let's flip the picture. You see that? That was part of a weather system in Pensacola, Florida earlier today. Yes. That's a big tornado that affected even a day care center. Now, there's a report of another tornado. We'll tell you where it is. We'll be right back. Stay with us.