LONDON – A scheme launched yesterday to allow girls as young as 13 to receive the contraceptive pill without their parents’ knowledge has been defended by the NHS trust running the service.
NHS Isle of Wight has created the initiative which aims to reduce teenage pregnancies by giving girls counselling on contraception and sexual health as well as a month’s supply of the pill.
The scheme has been criticised by local church and community groups. Rev Anthony Glaysher, parish priest at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Ryde, told the BBC that the scheme “fundamentally attacked the family”.
Andrew Turner, Conservative MP for the Isle of Wight, said: “How can adults bring up their children if their children can go into a shop, more or less, and be handed over something which is so significant?
“I will be making my concern clear to the people who run the health service and they’ve got to understand that many people feel the same.”
Dr Jenifer Smith, director of public health at NHS Isle of Wight, said the scheme would mean that a teenage girl seeking emergency contraception would be given a private consultation.
During this, the pharmacist would discuss the side effects and possible complications of contraception, provide advice on sexually transmitted infections, make a referral to the island’s sexual heath service and provide a month’s supply of the pill. She said: “It is not for the health service to moralise on the rights and wrongs of under-age sex but earlier this year we identified a gap in the local arrangements.
“The main aim is to safeguard vulnerable young people who in some circumstances find it difficult to speak to their parents about these important issues,” said Dr Smith. – (PA)