{"id":128788,"date":"2016-10-24T09:06:57","date_gmt":"2016-10-24T13:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=128788"},"modified":"2016-10-26T11:26:29","modified_gmt":"2016-10-26T15:26:29","slug":"planned-parenthood-club-launched-public-high-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/planned-parenthood-club-launched-public-high-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Planned Parenthood club launched at a public high school"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last month while many high school students attended the first meeting of year for the drama club or pep club, a group of public high school students in Virginia attended the meeting of a Planned Parenthood club. At this club, they are being taught about\u00a0abortion as a “choice,” how to engage in political activities to support pro-abortion laws,\u00a0and how to keep abortion clinics open.<\/p>\n

Students at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School<\/a>, a public high school for academically advanced students, brought a chapter of Planned Parenthood Generation Action (PPGA) to the high school. The PPGA clubs are usually reserved only for\u00a0college campuses. On September 19, the school announcement, posted on Facebook<\/a>, let students know that the first meeting would be held that day.<\/p>\n

Maggie Walker\u2019s new club \u201cPlanned Parenthood Generation Action\u201d is holding its first meeting on Monday, September 19th in room 206. Whether you are interested in health, education, or getting community service hours this election season this club is for you.<\/p>\n

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The news site for the high school<\/a> uses a feature story to laud the students who brought the Planned Parenthood club to the school. The MLWGS Jabberwock reports:<\/a><\/p>\n

[T]he Maggie Walker community will welcome its very own chapter to the school thanks to Kiera Goddu (\u201817), Amanda Mier (\u201817), and Naomi Vickers (\u201817).<\/p>\n

Goddu, Mier, and Vickers are more than enthused to bring a new experience to the student body of Maggie Walker. Goddu explained that Generation Action chapters operate by advocating for reproductive rights, keeping Planned Parenthood clinics open, offering a wide range of publicly available education services, and lobbying to remove targeted restrictions such as those imposed on abortion providers. Maggie Walker\u2019s Generation Action club plans to meet the goals of its founders and of the Planned Parenthood organization through three primary branches.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The students have their own ties to Planned Parenthood because one of the three, Goddu, is completing a mentorship at a local Planned Parenthood. Goddu isn’t shy about wanting to bring Planned Parenthood to her fellow classmates, admitting she hopes this club can be an “extension of her work into school.” The story reports:<\/a><\/p>\n

The other leaders are equally passionate about education and want to offer modernized and realistic reproductive health lessons to the student body of Maggie Walker. Mier\u2019s goal for the education sector of the Generation Action club pertains to what she deems underrepresented groups. \u201cInclusive sex education that\u2019s not just about\u2026what\u2019s between a man and a woman, but also is LGBTQ inclusive seems important,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The\u00a0students are clear that the club will be discussing abortion as a “choice” at their meetings.\u00a0A hope shared<\/a> by the students who lead the club is that\u00a0“the public perception of Planned Parenthood may change due to outreach and advocacy for the organization.” While many, perhaps those at Maggie Walker included, believe that abortion is only a small part of what Planned Parenthood does, the facts and statistics paint a very different story. Educating these students<\/a> on why Planned Parenthood is not “needed” by women<\/a> is important. Health care clinics that meet the needs of low-income women and their families (without performing abortion) outnumber Planned Parenthood 20 to 1<\/a>, and can be found in women’s local areas<\/a>.<\/p>\n