Parental rights activist sounds alarm about in-school clinics that medicalize kids without parents' knowledge

Dozens of public schools across Maine have opened in-school HealthReach Community Health Centers that offer students birth control, vaccines, mental health care, and possibly sex-change drugs.

Some parents have taken issue with the federally funded medicalization of their children's schools, especially since Maine law allows clinics to administer certain drugs and services to kids without parental consent — an opportunity that has already been exploited.

HealthReach assistant director of operations Diandra Staples admitted in October that just last year, seven out of 181 students kept their parents in the dark about services rendered at the clinics, reported WGME-TV. "They'll probably remain confidential for their safety or because they may not have support at home," said Staples.

Alvin Lui, president of the parental rights advocacy group Courage Is a Habit, is sounding the alarm that following months of controversy and debate, a Maine school board "snuck" in a vote for Dec. 5 to install one such federally qualified health center in its district.

"They have to submit their agenda within 5 business days. They waited until Thanksgiving Eve hoping no one would be paying attention through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend," Lui told Blaze News. "If by chance a few parents realize it Tuesday or Wednesday, it would be too late to alert the community. That is what this MSAD 11 school board was counting on."

The "possible approval to host a Health Clinic at Gardiner Area High School in the 2025-2026 school year" is on the agenda for the Maine School Administrative District No. 11 board's Thursday meeting, where Staples is scheduled to give a presentation.

'All will happen immediately, without parental consent.'

"We were fortunate that amazing on-the-ground parents we work with were monitoring, knowing how unethical this school board is," added Lui.

When asked about the admitted instances of "confidential" student visits and whether parents will increasingly be kept in the dark about their kids' medicalization, Lui said, "They are doing the, 'It's not happening, it's not happening that much, but it's good it's happening a lot,' line of dishonest manipulation. The reason they gave for the seven children they had to treat without parental consent (parents are 'unsafe and abusive') will be the same reason they give for the next 70 children, the next 700, and eventually all children whose parents do not agree with transgender ideology and/or birth control."

"This is the same blueprint they used for keeping transgender secrets in schools and the Transgender Trafficking Bills we've been fighting," added Lui, referencing legislation like Maine's LD 227.

Although Courage Is a Habit and other parental rights activists were successful in defeating an earlier version, Gov. Janet Mills ratified Democratic state Rep. Anne Perry's LD 227 in April. LD 227 — which Lui previously referred to as the "Transgender Trafficker Protection Act" — prohibits "interference" with abortions or sex-change mutilations, protects medical practitioners from lawsuits, and conceals the known whereabouts of interstate child runaways from their parents, among other things.

Michelle Tucker, a newly elected member of the school board who has spoken out against state-mandated policies for transvestic students, noted in October, "They are children, and maybe they're not mature enough to make these decisions without parental support."

Lui suggested that whereas parents might be willing to push back against various medical interventions at school, "Children of any age will be paired with an affirm-only counselor or therapist to put them on the transgender path. Children will be given binders and tucking for transgender reasons. Girls will be able to obtain any and all types of birth control. All will happen immediately, without parental consent."

"Ultimately, all medical decisions will be made within school grounds, without parental consent, and all that will be needed is someone at the clinic to deem the parents 'unsafe and abusive,'" added Lui.

Blaze News reached out to the MSAD 11 superintendent's office as well as to HealthReach for comment but did not receive responses by deadline.

When the idea for the clinic at the Gardiner Area High School was first floated, Lindsay Hammes, spokeswoman for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement to the Kennebec Journal, "The school-based health centers enhance educational outcomes for students by limiting missed instructional time for external appointments, reducing absenteeism from chronic conditions, and decreasing disciplinary actions among students needing behavioral or medical support."

Ahead of the vote Thursday, Courage Is a Habit created an online form that community members can use in the final hours before the vote to deluge the board with emails expressing their concerns about the initiative.

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