Risks for Your Children in Massachusetts Public Schools

Overview↓  Parents' Rights↓  Health Centers↓  Health Frameworks↓  FAQs↓  Contact↓

Overview

According to the CDC School Health Profiles,

• 91% of high school students (as young as 14) are taught “How to access valid and reliable information, products, and services related … pregnancy” in a required course
• 83% are taught “How to obtain condoms” and 

• 87% are taught about “Methods of contraception other than condoms”. 
• 67% of middle school students (as young as 11) are taught “How to access valid and reliable information, products, and services related … pregnancy” in a required course
• 48% are taught “How to obtain condoms” and 
• 52% are taught about “Methods of contraception other than condoms”. 

It is important to note that “services” include abortion, and that “access” includes confidentiality laws for minors – parents need not know.

Parental Rights

Under Massachusetts law, Ch. 71 Section 32A, parents have the right:

• To review all instructional materials with regard to instruction in sexuality issues in schools;
• To be notified when the school will be providing instruction regarding sexuality issues;
• To exempt their child from any portion of the curriculum regarding sexuality issues through written notification to the school principal’
• To the assurance that their child will not be penalized for their exemption.

Suggestions for parents:

• Inquire of the school as to how issues of sexuality, abortion, contraception, etc. will be presented in class
• Visit the school website to determine content of Health class (sometimes called “Wellness”, Personal Responsibility Education Program or PREP); see if curriculum conforms to the Frameworks
• Consider exempting your child and alerting other parents.

School Based Health Centers (SBHC’s)

SBHC’s are a collection of 33 health centers in 15 cities and towns throughout Mass., mostly in high schools. The programs are administered through partnerships with community health centers, hospitals, and local health departments. 

According to the “MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH CENTER QUALITY STANDARDS”, School Based Health Centers must provide for reproductive health services: 

• gynecological examinations, 
• diagnosis and treatment of reproductive health concerns,
• diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STI),
• family planning health education and services, and 
• pregnancy diagnosis and follow-up.

“For services not provided on site such as nutrition services, dental services, reproductive health services … the SBHC must arrange for the provision of such services off site”.  (abortion?)

How many parents know that when they give permission for their children to be served in the SBHC “in accordance with Massachusetts laws, that they are giving permission for “services” that may involve pregnancy, birth control and abortion?

The Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Frameworks

The Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Frameworks are the guiding document for all health education in the state. They are recommendations – teachers currently have some flexibility as to how they are implemented. However, recently legislation has been introduced to require that the Frameworks be adopted as THE document for determining all health education in public schools (See “The Healthy Youth Act”, S 2475, 2021). Much in the Frameworks is well thought out, but the portions on sexuality and reproduction are troubling.

Adoption of the Frameworks would accomplish the following:

• Eliminate any choice for parents in local communities in determining what would be taught to their children with respect to sexuality, contraception, and abortion
• Replace traditional moral values with “politically correct” values
• Contradict the religious, spiritual, and traditional values parents might wish to impart to their children with respect to sexuality, marriage, and respect for life (Christians, Muslims and Jews).

Under the Frameworks as currently proposed, your children would be taught:

• How to obtain an abortion without parental knowledge
• How to obtain contraceptives without parental knowledge
• “Behaviors” for pregnancy prevention (other than abstinence). 

This may seem difficult to believe, but consider the following Frameworks objectives:

Objective 4.20:  Identify resources for treatment of reproductive health problems [pregnancy]

Objective 4.a:  Identify and explain laws about reproductive services [abortion]  

Many parents are unaware that under Massachusetts law, girls as young as 16 can give consent for an abortion, and parents need not know; younger girls can obtain an abortion without parental knowledge by means of a judicial bypass.  (See “The Roe Acts of 2020, and MA General Laws, Ch. 112, 12 R). 

Parents may also be unaware of the following:

“The department shall establish within its health promotion division a program for comprehensive family planning services for all persons without regard to … age, … No information obtained regarding a recipient shall be disclosed without the consent of said recipient …” General Law - Part I, Title XVI, Chapter 111, Section 24E.

Implementation of Objective 4.8   - “Describe behaviors and methods for pregnancy prevention, including abstinence” - has already resulted in explicit, graphic presentations of various sexual practices to school children. How many parents have voted for these objectives in their local school districts?

FAQs

Read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) list that was inspired by parents' questions and answered by an educational expert who is well versed in pro-life issues in the educational system in Massachusetts. 

Contact 

For more information or to have your questions on this topic answered, please reach out to: [email protected]

Sources:

1. CDC School Health Profiles, 2018 (last data set available) School Health Profiles 2018: Characteristics of Health Programs Among Secondary Schools (cdc.gov)  Tables 9-11.
2. Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Frameworks Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework - October 1999  and Standards Navigator – Search by Subject - Comprehensive Health - Physical Health - Reproduction/Sexuality (mass.edu) .
3. Massachusetts School Based Health Centers Quality Standards, Section 3.16. p.4, 5 download (mass.gov) .

Parental Rights General Law - Part I, Title XII, Chapter 71, Section 32A (malegislature.gov) .