EXCLUSIVE | Indian River School District’s new wellness centers could lead to student abortion referrals, Board Member believed
UPDATE | Hattier specified that under title ten when pregnancy is suspected the ONLY thing the centers can do is refer to a proper OBGYN physician.
Information was obtained from legal representatives in the Indian River School District following the story below, according to Dr. Hattier. There will be no abortion or other advice given in any circumstance.
Indian River School Board Member Dr. Don Hattier says he’d be “willing to bet” that the district’s new reproductive wellness centers will lead to student pregnancy testing and abortion referrals.
Dr. Donald Hattier, board member fwith the Indian River School District, appeared on the Mike Bradley Show Tuesday morning where he was questioned over the district’s plans with Beebe Medical Group to develop a reproductive health care plan for the wellness centers at Indian River and Sussex Central high schools.
Referenced in the preliminary information released from the district was the rate of teen pregnancy in Sussex County.
“Sussex County has the highest pregnancy rate among high school students in the State of Delaware,” district officials stated. “This rate also exceeds the national average.”
WGMD’s Rob Petree asked Hattier whether or not the new reproductive student wellness centers would include pregnancy testing and what options, such as abortion, would potentially be provided to students who test positive.
Hattier said he feels this could open the door to teen pregnancy testing and potential abortion referrals.
“Once you open the door, I’d be willing to bet that somewhere down the line that ends up being something that’s discussed,” Hattier said. “I would bet that, that’s coming.”
If that does in fact come to fruition, Hattier said the parents will have no say at all at that point.
“This is what they’re going to do,” he said. “The parents will have no say at all, the parents will have no say at all.”
Hattier made it abundantly clear that he would not support such a measure.
“I support parental rights and I don’t support it,” he said. “I think that’s something that needs to be discussed on a family level. It should not be an individual decision. I think there’s a tremendous influential inconsistency in the way that this is being done, and everybody seems to have there own little rationalization plan for why it’s a good thing.”
WGMD’s Mike Bradley emphasized how currently five-percent of the program is designated solely to family planning.
When the program came to a vote before the board, Hattier abstained, a decision he told Bradley he should’ve reconsidered. “I should’ve probably voted no, but either way I didn’t vote for it.”
District officials who support the program said, “research has shown that a strong reproductive health care plan that includes not only contraceptive services but also education on sexual health, abstinence and sexually transmitted diseases can drastically reduce the rate of teen pregnancy.
“Therefore, we are looking forward to working with Beebe to develop this plan and provide these valuable services to our students. It’s important to note that parents retain the right to opt their children out of these and all other services provided by our school-based wellness centers.”
WGMD has reached out to Beebe Medical Group and is awaiting a response.
