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Abortion message surprises educators

At the event for middle school students, the Pregnancy Center's booth includes dolls of fetuses and antiabortion literature.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published January 31, 2005

LARGO - The banquet room at the Largo Cultural Center buzzed last week with children excited to be free from classes for an hour to attend Career Day, sponsored by the Largo/Mid-Pinellas Chamber of Commerce.

They stopped at the police department's table to see the gas mask and the gun that shoots rubber bullets.

They looked at the fire department's lifesaving equipment.

And they glanced at the booths with brochures about health care and banking jobs.

But one exhibit aroused curiosity and even revulsion in some of the Largo Middle School students. On a table at the Pregnancy Center of Pinellas County booth were four naked dolls set in a row, each a little bigger than the last. They had tiny eyes, fingers and toes.

"These are fetal models at seven to 10 weeks old," said April Hymen, the center director, who was operating the booth. "They are actual size and development."

Unbeknownst to chamber officials, teachers and the Largo Middle principal, the center had brought its antiabortion message to students during the event, a violation of Pinellas County schools rules. The students ranged in age from 11 to 13.

But because Career Day took place off campus, there is nothing school officials can do.

Peggy Johns, supervisor of kindergarten through 12th grade health education for Pinellas County schools, said she was unaware the agency was at Career Day and that it handed out antiabortion literature as well as information on abstinence.

"I would have preferred that they would have declined to participate," she said. "Pinellas County schools wishes to remain neutral on (the abortion issue). I will be following up with the school to make sure everybody is clear about what materials are allowed to be distributed and the content of the message."

She said the Pregnancy Center is on a list of approved classroom speakers, but they are only permitted to talk to students about subjects authorized by the school district.

For example, she said representatives can discuss abstinence and the consequences of teenage sex, but not abortion.

For several years, the Largo/Mid-Pinellas Chamber of Commerce has sponsored Career Day for middle schoolers, and it uses its own money to rent the hall at the Largo Cultural Center to help kids decide on a profession.

During the planning stages, it faxed fliers to its members, asking them to participate. The Pregnancy Center was one of dozens that responded and said they would be at the event, which attracted more than 400 fast-track students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades on Thursday.

Faith-based and church-supported, the nonprofit organization headquartered in Pinellas Park offers pregnancy tests, counseling, adoption advice, post-abortion education and other services.

Arlene Walker Kaslander, chairwoman of the Business Education Partnership committee at the chamber, which organizes the event, said she was caught off guard by the exhibit's content.

"I didn't know the extent of their presentation," Walker Kaslander said. "I thought they were probably going to talk about the repercussions of getting pregnant at a young age and about celibacy. I was surprised. I guess we made an assumption."

She said the chamber's board of directors will discuss the matter further and take a closer look at participants next year.

"Our goal is to support businesses," Walker Kaslander said. "We don't have a view, we don't want to have a view, when it comes to politics."

Although many students and teachers didn't stop at the table at all, some students who did expressed surprise when they saw the fetuses.

Hymen, the Pregnancy Center director, said some of them shouted "gross!" and walked away, especially the boys who appeared uncomfortable with the subject.

"They thought it was real," Hymen said.

But others moved in for a closer look. Hymen encouraged them to touch the tiny soft plastic figures.

"A lot of them couldn't believe that at seven weeks, you can see the little hands, nose, ears and feet," she said.

She handed out the organization's newsletter, which contains scripture and information about the agency's "Breath of Life" Birthing Center, a pregnancy facility planned for East Bay Drive.

It also listed the names and birthdays of the babies the center has "saved."

Sol Pitchon, president and chief executive officer of the Pregnancy Center, insisted the organization was not at Career Day to sway children against abortion, but to offer career ideas.

"We employ center directors, we have nurses who volunteer," he said. "In the future, we will hire a nurse/midwife."

Bill Cooper, Largo Middle's principal, said for four years, Career Day has been a great success, and the school appreciates the chamber's efforts on behalf of the students. He said he hopes this incident doesn't tarnish a good thing.

"The Largo chamber has done a terrific job," Cooper said. "I would hate to see (this) reflect poorly on them or the school. If (the Pregnancy Center) came there not in the spirit of the event, that is a shame."

--Eileen Schulte can be reached at 727 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 31, 2005, 00:38:15]