An Unwarranted Intrusion

Roman Catholic Archbishop Roger M. Mahony has the duty and the moral authority to instruct his flock. His strong and broad opposition to comprehensive health clinics that will dispense birth-control information and contraceptives in three Los Angeles high schools, however, is an unwarranted religious intrusion into a purely secular matter.

In a recent pastoral letter, Mahony, the archbishop of Los Angeles, urged Catholics and others “who value the family” to pressure authorities to drop plans for the clinics scheduled to open next year on the campuses of Jordan, San Fernando and Los Angeles high schools.

The Los Angeles Board of Education courageously approved the clinics to respond to the horrendous tragedy of teen-age pregnancy. More than 17,000 Los Angeles teen-agers gave birth last year. Some of the new mothers are as young as 11 years old. Premature motherhood usually shackles the dreams of mother and child, and they become lifelong burdens on taxpayers.

The school board is seeking funds from private foundations to finance the clinics, which are expected to cost $500,000 per year, to avoid using tax funds.

School-based clinics have reduced the high birthrate at schools in Minneapolis, Chicago and other cities. The Los Angeles version of such clinics will provide general medical attention for sports injuries, sexually transmitted diseases, physical examinations and other services. Family-planning information, counseling and the dispensing of birth-control devices is expected to account for 20% to 30% of the services. Students would require advance parental permission to use the health centers for any purpose. That leaves the choice of using the clinics entirely up to parents.

The Los Angeles public schools are not part of the archbishop’s sphere of influence. The three school-based clinics should open next year as scheduled. Teen-agers must be encouraged to delay sex and avoid pregnancies by whatever methods that work.