Many more Alaska children may soon be able to walk into a school-based health center (SBHC) and receive a litany of medical services and counseling related to sexual relationships, abortion, gender identity, vaccines, mental health and a host of other sensitive issues with little to no parental involvement.

The State of Alaska is prepared to spend an initial $1 million to set the ground game for a massive expansion of these centers in schools across the state. In October, a division of Alaska’s health department – Section of Women’s, Children, and Family Health – issued a formal request for bids from national health organizations that specialize in providing state support for establishing, maintaining, and expanding school-based health centers. A contract is expected to be announced within days.

ABORTION, GENDER ID AND MUCH MORE

Controversy surrounding SBHC stems from the fact that the school centers are enthusiastically supported by far-leftist organizations like Planned Parenthood and others who see school sites as a way to advance pro-abortion, contraception and gender identity services with little to no parental involvement.

Despite controversies surrounding school-based clinics, federal and state governments are unleashing millions to implement them.

Plans to grow these centers nationally come at a time when public schools are encouraging LGBTQ identities and increasingly enabling kids to access services for sexual confusion and abortion behind their parents’ backs.

A recent article in LifeSiteNews highlighted the work of Stand for Health Freedom (SHF), a nonprofit that alerts parents to the dangers of school-based health centers.

Executive director of SHF Leah Wilson told LifeSiteNews that the scope of the centers is well beyond what you would find at a traditional school nurse’s office.

“It goes into reproductive counseling, dental care, mental health counseling, behavioral services,” Wilson said. This effectively replaces care that a child would “typically receive from a primary care provider with parental engagement.”

PARENTAL RIGHTS CONCERNS

Wilson added that school health centers use a basic, one-page “pre-consent” form that parents sign at the beginning of the school year. This essentially grants permission for a child to see any and all health care providers in the health center, and opens the door for “dynamic encounters” that may occur without additional parental notice, she said.

Despite controversies surrounding school-based clinics, federal and state governments are unleashing millions to implement them. In addition to Alaska’s plan to spend public funds on the project, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently forked over $25 million in grants specifically to establish SBHC throughout the country.

According to the Alaska Health Department’s contract, the successful bidder to implement school-based health centers must be fully trained in SBHC’s “seven core competencies“, which were developed by School Based Health Alliance – the primary organization pushing for these centers across the nation. The nonprofit claims to advance and inform more than 2,500 school-based health care programs across a network of 22 state affiliates and partner organizations.

The group’s seven core competencies include a heavy emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion ideology, aimed at providing so-called “comprehensive services,” including those that address sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as vision, oral, emotional and behavioral health.

If students become pregnant, SBHA’s website adds that the school health centers should provide counseling that includes the “full range of options: continuation of pregnancy, adoption, and elective termination [abortion].”

While the competencies assert that school health centers should obtain consent from parents via a form letter, the organization provides specific training on how educators and school staff can prevent parents from accessing key information, such as their child’s sexual identity or the personal pronouns the school uses to address their children during the academic day.

School Based Health Alliance’s website is clear that the centers should be “advocates for sexual and reproductive health policies that include gender roles, sexual identity, sexual orientation and various forms of sexual behavior.” It also aims to empower school counselors to advise students on these sensitive matters. The organization underlines the importance of providing discrete and confidential sexual and reproductive care for kids, which may entail offering transportation and financial resources.

In the event that students become pregnant, School Based Health Alliance’s website adds that the school health centers should provide counseling that includes the “full range of options: continuation of pregnancy, adoption, and elective termination [abortion].”

In order for school health centers to deliver what it considers “high quality” sexual health services, SBHA’s website states they should ensure minors receive confidential information and guaranteed “the ultimate decision-making authority regarding the selection of a particular contraceptive method.”

In addition to providing health services, the centers are also geared to operate as training sites to enlist youth in becoming spokespersons and activists, SBHA maintains.

While the school health centers may not be able to offer all services, such as surgical abortions and gender reassignment surgeries, SBHA does instruct them to provide outside referrals for “coverage beyond clinical capacity – including oral, reproductive, behavioral, and specialty healthcare.”

END GAME

Once the Alaska Health Department has spent the initial $1 million to implement school health centers, the state plans to lobby the Alaska Legislature for ongoing funding to maintain and grow the centers.

The first phase, however, is to onboard a contractor who will conduct training and planning for the implementation and expansion of school-based health services to existing and potentially new centers in schools across Alaska.  Contractors will also evaluate and train staff for these centers, while advocating and seeking additional funding and political support to expand them. This includes reaching out to individual school districts and schools in targeted areas of the state.

TAKING ACTION

— Click here to contact Alaska Commissioner of Health Heidi Hedberg.

— Click here to contact Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

— Click here to learn more about resources to address concerns about school-based health centers.

Click here to support Alaska Watchman reporting.