Britain provides contraceptives to 9-year-olds

by Hilary White, Rome Correspondent

British health authorities defend hormone contraceptives for nine year-old girls

The British health authorities are defending a programme that allows 13 year-old girls to be given hormonal contraceptive implants in school without their parents’ knowledge or consent. The day after these headlines appeared, it was declared that government statistics showed a sixfold increase in girls under 15 getting implants over the last five years. National Health Service numbers showed that last year alone, 7,400 British girls between 13 and 15 were given implants or hormonal injections. In some schools, hormonal contraceptives have been given to girls as young as nine. 

The government defended the programme, which dates to 2009, claiming that it has had the desired effect of reducing teenage pregnancies by 22 per cent. Under the rules of “confidentiality,” school staff are actually forbidden to tell parents their children are undergoing these medical interventions, even after the fact. British newspapers report that it is “not known” how many schools are offering the contraceptive programme.

The government defended the programme, saying it had produced the desired effect in reducing teenage pregnancies by 22 per cent. Only “properly trained personnel” took the girls’ medical histories and approved the procedures, they assured the public.