Massachusetts governor objects to condom plan

June 25, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

BOSTON

Gov. Deval Patrick used his bully pulpit Thursday to call the superintendent of a Cape Cod school district and urge her to revise a new policy allowing even elementary- school students to receive free condoms without the knowledge of their parents. School officials later said the policy would be revisited.

The new policy makes condoms available to all Provincetown public-school students and takes effect in the fall. Under the policy, any student requesting a condom from a school nurse must first receive counseling, which includes information on abstinence.

Patrick, a Democrat seeking re-election this year against a field including two conservative opponents, told The Associated Press on Thursday he objected not only to the age of the students covered by the policy, but also to a provision prohibiting their parents from being told about any request for prophylactics — and from having their objections overrule a distribution.

He said Superintendent Beth Singer, who authored the policy approved by the Cape Cod community’s school board June 10, is “going to try to walk this back a bit.”

“Obviously, this is a local issue, but I expressed my concern about the counseling and access being age-appropriate, and, for young kids, that parents ought to be involved,” Patrick said in a call to The Associated Press.