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Young girls in nine schools in Southampton in England have been offered contraceptive implants by National Health Service (NHS) sexual health clinics that visited the schools. Three years ago government ministers ordered local councils to spend money on offering implants and other long-acting contraceptives in schools. It is thought the practice is now widespread in Britain.
 
Contraceptive implants are small thin rods placed under the skin of the upper arm to release a steady stream of hormones to prevent ovulation. Parents have complained that their daughters were being fitted with the implants, designed to stay in place for a number of years, without their knowledge.
 
One mother, whose 13-year-old daughter was given the implant, said it was “morally wrong”. She claimed the school had gone ahead without consulting their family doctor. The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said the pupils had to simply fill out a questionnaire about their medical history. They then underwent a consultation before receiving the contraceptive but there was a lack of follow-up appointments. “I feel really angry about this,” she said. “I agree that teaching teenagers about sexual health and contraception is very important but this is a step too far. To perform a minor surgical procedure on school grounds, without parents knowing is morally wrong. I cannot understand how this is allowed to happen.”
 
She said she had spoken to many other parents at the school and they were horrified to find out what was happening. “As parents we want to protect our children and I feel that has been taken away from me,” she said.
 
According to NHS figures last year 1,700 girls aged 13 and 14 were fitted with contraceptive implants, while 800 had injections that provided a similar effect. The previous year, 3,200 15-year-old girls were fitted with implants, and 1,700 had injections. NHS managers have defended sexual health services going into schools, saying teenage pregnancies had dropped by 22 per cent as a result. Each child was assessed for her capacity to consent to the procedure and a detailed medical history was taken by properly trained personnel, a spokesman for NHS Solent said.
 
Under guidance for medical professionals parents are not informed of medical treatment of under 16-year-olds due to patient confidentiality and children must be assessed for their ability to consent to treatment.
 
But campaigners from the Family Education Trust say the implant will encourage promiscuity and will not protect against infections. Norman Wells, director of the trust, has urged health chiefs to look at ways of discouraging sexual activity among children in the first place. “Schemes like these inevitably lead to boys putting pressure on girls to have sex,” he said. “The last thing they should be doing is fuelling the flames of promiscuity and the sexual health crisis with schemes that treat parents, the law and basic moral principles with contempt.”
 
A spokeswoman for Solent NHS Trust and NHS Southampton defended the practice. “We are committed to ensuring local young people are able to access clinically appropriate sexual health support,” she said. “This helps them to avoid unwanted pregnancies and protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections.” She said the NHS sexual health service for young people is provided in nine secondary schools across Southampton, and includes offering information, advice and support to students. “It also includes chlamydia screening, condom distribution, pregnancy testing, providing a range of contraception methods and referral to other services.”
 
F&L Comment: The mindset of those promoting this appalling practice is eerily reminiscent of advocates of compulsory sterilisation for women and girls who were deemed incapable of self-control. That the sterilisation in this case is allegedly temporary or reversible is beside the point. If girls of 13 or 14 are being abused sexually, the NHS should be doing everything possible to stop the abuse. Instead, it is actively facilitating it.
The Daily Telegraph. February 8. Family & Life. February 8.