Pregnant and Parenting Students

Think that school policies that shun pregnant students and push them out of school are a thing of the past?

Think again.

A public charter school in Delhi, Louisiana says that students who they “suspect of being pregnant” must submit to a pregnancy test. And, according to their written policy, “if the test indicates that the student is pregnant, the student will not be permitted to attend classes…” As we outlined in our report, A Pregnancy Test for Schools, policies like the Louisiana one clearly violate the U.S. Constitution and Title IX, the federal law that bars sex discrimination in schools.

Earlier this week, the ACLU sent the school a letter demanding that the school immediately end the practice of forced pregnancy tests and stop excluding pregnant students. There is also a petition asking the school to remove the discriminatory policy. Read more »

Do your elected officials support pregnant and parenting students in school?

Send a copy of our groundbreaking report to your elected officials today.

Have you ever seen MTV's show "16 and Pregnant?" It tells the stories of girls trying to graduate from high school while juggling the responsibilities of parenthood. Their struggles aren't glamorous or pretty — they're real and heartbreaking. While some of the girls stay in school and graduate, many drop out. It shouldn't have to be that way.

It may seem crazy, but Title IX — the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education — was enacted 40 years ago this month, yet schools still bar pregnant and parenting students from activities, discourage them from staying in school, push them into alternative programs and penalize them for pregnancy-related absences. All of that violates Title IX and increases the risk that students will drop out.

Today, the National Women's Law Center is releasing a new report: A Pregnancy Test for Schools: The Impact of Education Laws on Pregnant and Parenting Students. This report ranks your state and shows how the vast majority of state education laws and policies fail to adequately support these students.

Send a copy of our groundbreaking report to your elected officials today. They need to know where your state stands and what pregnant and parenting students need to succeed. Read more »

My mother got pregnant when she was seventeen. Luckily, she was able to nab her diploma before she started showing. Otherwise, in order to be excused from PE requirements, the gym coach at her school forced pregnant students to stand in front of the class and publicly flagellate themselves. My mother saw it happen to a schoolmate and says she will never forget the girls face, frozen with fear and humiliation. Years later, I had the same gym coach. Every time I looked at her, all I could think about was what kind of smallness had to exist inside of a person to do that to another human being, to a child no less? Whenever she blew her omnipresent whistle, I ran as far as I could away from her.

Man, I thought, I’m so glad that was then and this is . . . oh my god this practice is still going on! Yesterday, a middle school student named Shantelle sued her school after staff members forced her to stand up at an assembly and announce to the entire student body that she was pregnant. Until that moment, Shantelle had not revealed to anyone at school (other than her sister) that she was pregnant.

This wasn’t the first time the school had tried to humiliate Shantelle. Earlier, when school officials found out Shantelle was pregnant, they kicked her out of school. The ACLU of New Mexico wrote to the school to let them know that schools are not allowed to discriminate against students because they are pregnant. The school relented and re-enrolled Shantelle after a four-day suspension. Read more »

Today is our last weekly roundup for February, which has been an interesting month. In today’s roundup, I’ve got an updates on the two reproductive rights bills in Virginia I told you about last week, some info on an exciting new video series we’re launching, good news (!) from Maryland, new Civil Rights museums, the outcome of the tragic Yeardley Love murder case, and a segment from last week’s Saturday Night Live. Read more »