Flutterby™! : Birth control for middle school

Interesting: Portland Maine middle school offers contraception:

While students need written parental permission to be treated at Portland's school-based health centers, state law allows them to receive confidential care for reproductive health, mental health and substance abuse issues.

ABC News version of the story, which claims that:

...by state law, if a student requests confidentiality, health care workers must honor it. Meaning birth control pills could be prescribed without a parent knowing.

Something else I find interesting is that:

Five King students, ages 14 and 15, reported having sexual intercourse last year, said Amanda Rowe, head nurse for Portland schools.

In the last four years, Portland's three middle schools reported 17 pregnancies, not counting miscarriages or terminated pregnancies that weren't reported to the school nurse, Rowe said.

They don't say how many of those were from this school, which, from the pictures of concerned parents at the school board meetings looks pretty white and middle class, but it does suggest that the actual incidents of sexual intercourse may be undercounted. (Update: Another paragraph identifies that "5" as a subset of the 138 visitors to the health center.)