TULSA, Okla. — A Tulsa parent is speaking out after she says her daughter had a birth control implant embedded into her arm during a trip from school.
Miracle Foster says her parental rights were violated.
It all started when her 16-year-old daughter attended a Youth Services of Tulsa lecture about sex education at Langston Hughes Academy.
After one of the sessions, the teen and other girls reportedly said they wanted to learn more, and the school arranged for Youth Services of Tulsa to pick them up and take them to a clinic.
Rodney L. Clark, the school's principal, says he called Foster to get permission to allow her daughter to go on the trip before they left.
Foster says that her daughter then received a three-year Norplant implant at the clinic without her parental consent.
Representatives from Youth Services of Tulsa say they do not have to tell a parent about any contraceptives given to minors.
Title X federal guidelines allows for teens as young as 12 to receive various forms of contraceptives without a parent's consent.
They also said they merely inform and transport teens to the clinics of their choice. They are not involved in the conversations between the teens and the physicians at theses clinics.
Foster told FOX23 that she feels that she and her daughter should have had the opportunity to discuss what's best for her.
Clark released a statement Wednesday:
<i>"This was not a field trip. Youth Services of Tulsa does an annual in-service on Sex Education. They offer students an opportunity to contact them on their own for more information. The parent gave her child permission to leave the school. Under Title X once young people are at the clinic and are of reproductive age, they can make decisions on their own without parental consent. As you can understand this situation involves a minor and we do not release information about students. Nevertheless, the student was well within their rights of Title X which is a federal guideline that provides reduced cost family planning services to persons of all reproductive age."</i>
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