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More Education, Less Proselytizing
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Abstract
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| Orange County’s Board of Supervisors has come a long way since 1965, when it allowed the area’s first Planned Parenthood group to operate a clinic at the county hospital, say Planned Parenthood officials. Last week, the board voted unanimously to suspend a grant Planned Parenthood used to provide comprehensive sex education at schools and after-school programs. In addition, the county contacted other health providers with county contracts to ask whether their services included abortion, which the board cited as reason for suspending Planned Parenthood’s grant.
None of the nearly $300,000 grant was used to provide abortions, a fact well-documented for the county, said Planned Parenthood officials. Of the 18 community clinics that receive county grant funding, only Planned Parenthood offers comprehensive sex education, said John Dunn, Planned Parenthood’s CEO.
“The irony is that the money that’s going specifically to [Planned Parenthood’s] program is educational so that women won’t get themselves in a situation where they need an abortion,” said Dr. Thomas C. Bent, medical director and COO of the Laguna Beach Community Clinic (LBCC).
Before the board vote, the county’s Health Care Agency contacted Bent twice querying whether he offered abortions or abortion referrals. Other members of LBCC were similarly contacted and questioned, Bent said. LBCC does not offer abortions, but it does provide counseling on a patient’s full range of reproductive options, including legal abortions.
“What I talk about with my patients is private,” Bent said. “That I have a contract manager asking about those conversations is something that makes me very uncomfortable. It just makes me very sad. They should be spending their energies finding more ways to take care of people,” he said. “I don’t proselytize in my exam room. [The board] shouldn’t proselytize with the power of their office.”
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Source
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| http://www.ocregister.com/ |
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Subjects
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Adolescents
Funding Issues
Health Education Programs
Local Government Agencies
Schools
Sex Education
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cdcnpin.org News Record #52789
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