Bill would add 10 more school-based clinics

Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 22, 2006 at midnight

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More Colorado Government

A total of $1.2 million would be allocated to establish 10 new school-based health clinics in low-income areas under a bill that received initial House approval Friday.

A provision in the bill would allow girls to get some gynecological services.

Most Republicans wanted language that excluded reproductive services, but the majority Democrats narrowed it to exclude only abortion services, as specified in the state constitution.

Currently, some school-based clinics offer information on contraceptives, and one clinic, in Commerce City, offers contraceptives themselves. But others offer neither. Those decisions would remain in the hands of local districts if the language approved Friday becomes law.

The debate mirrored the larger national debate: one side saying abstinence-only programs promote responsible sexual behavior, the other side saying so-called "abstinence-plus" programs are more realistic, lower teen pregnancy and don't lead to increased promiscuity.

Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, the bill's sponsor, said he expects the new school clinics to serve an additional 6,000 low-income students. Some 25,000 students are now being served.

Those students will get health care they otherwise might forgo and be able to get right back to class, he said.

Also on Friday, the House:

• Approved a "Support our Troops" license plate as an option for Colorado drivers willing to pay the extra $35. The measure won widespread support, although Rep. Tom Plant, D-Nederland, said that so many special and special-interest license plates are being approved that it might be easier to just approve various bumper stickers.

• Approved HB 1280, which tightens controls on debt-management services. Sponsor Rep. Anne McGihon, D-Denver, said the bill, if it becomes law, would corral "fly-by-night companies that are ripping off people" who are on the brink of bankruptcy.

• Gave final approval to HB 1389, which would require signs at the new Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge warning visitors that some radioactive contamination remains in the area.

Republicans opposed the bill, saying it dishonors the Rocky Flats workers who spent a dozen years "working themselves out of a job" to make the former nuclear weapons plant safe for wildlife and human visitors.

Roger Ballenger, of Louisville, who worked at Rocky Flats for 27 years, the last several as a member of the Rocky Flats cleanup team, said Friday that the team "had to meet very stringent standards that were established in concert with all the oversight groups."

The cleanup met or exceeded those standards, he said, adding, "I think there should be signs paying tribute to the workers, not scaring the public."

scanlon@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2897

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