Editorial: There has to be a limit

Yes, children should be taught sexual responsibility and, yes, we should be giving them all the tools we can to help them make what could be life-changing decisions when it comes to sex.

But, good grief, even the most liberal among us should recoil at the decision by school officials in Portland, Maine, to dispense birth control pills and other contraceptive medications to middle school students - 11-, 12-, and 13-year-olds - without parental consent.

No matter how those on Portland's school committee who voted for this dangerous decision rationalize their actions, it is a total abdication of responsibility and admission of defeat and please spare us the excuse that some kids will be doing it anyway.

There are those who use religion as the basis for their opposition while others claim a move such as this unfairly excises parental rights.

We think more to the point is this decision lets irresponsible parents unable to talk to their children off scot-free. They can now sleep comfortably believing their daughter will not become a teen mother.

But handing out pills and patches to little girls - and that is what they are - is frightening in the message it relays as to how we want them to think about their bodies and themselves.

In way, we are buying into that argument that fuller access to birth control can promote promiscuity. But at that age, when children are at their most susceptible to peer pressure and a yearning to grow up too fast, too soon, is it not a reasonable fear?

Can we expect a 12-year-old to use a condom that could protect her from a sexually transmitted disease when she knows the birth control pill is more effective against unwanted pregnancy?

Can we trust an 11-year-old child to not want to experiment in becoming a grown-up when we are giving her access to adult medications that she can choose to tell her parents or not?

Can young girls be expected to weigh the long-term effects of chemically manipulated estrogen and hormonal levels, clotting risks and possible cancer from some of the forms of birth control?

And this action in no way holds boys responsible for their actions or teaches them accountability for their part in this sexual tango.

We have always favored more rather than less information for teenagers to make educated decisions when it comes to sex. While abstinence-only has a place in sex education, it is naive to think some, even many, youngsters will not engage in sexual activity before they turn 18.

There is an argument that some parents are too timid or too much in denial to talk with their 'tweens about sex. That, though, should not mean their children should suffer because of their inability to be a parent.

What seems to be lost in all of this is that these girls are not even at the age of consent. Anyone who has sex with them is committing child rape.

Do we really want to encourage that?