We are always told that teenagers have a right to privacy and reproductive choice. So what is the deal here? On what basis is this nurse insisting that a student take a pregnancy test? Especially since the basis of her demand is a rumor that the girl herself denied.

A 15-year-old San Marcos girl and her father have filed a federal lawsuit against her school nurse, who allegedly forced the girl to take a pregnancy test.

The lawsuit claims nurse Dyanna Eastwood called the girl to her office and told her that a student at another school claimed he impregnated her.

Eastwood insisted the girl take the test, according to the lawsuit.

The girl said she did not have sex with the boy and denied that she was pregnant.

The girl's lawyer also said she was not pregnant.

The suit, which was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Austin, claims the girl's privacy and constitutional rights were violated during the January event.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, claims Eastwood violated the girl's Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure.

There are a couple of fundamental problems here, from my point of view. First, where was the basis for this girl being called in and confronted with this rumor in the first place? I teach in a school of 2300 students (ninth and tenth graders), and I know that our nurses (we have two) are generally swamped by students with real health problems. Some boy claiming to have gotten this girl pregnant would hardly be sufficient grounds for pulling her from class to check on a rumored pregnancy.

Second, what right was there to insist upon the test -- especially after she denied sexual activity? Isn't there a right to decide when and how to seek medical treatment? If the facilities at this school are anything like what I've seen at most schools, there were a dozen people in this room and no privacy as the girl was browbeaten into submitting to an unwanted medical procedure.

Third, what would have been the response to a positive test? The school would be barred from notifying her parents under an absurdly broad view of a minor child's right to "reproductive freedom"? Would this nurse have dialed up Planned Parenthood to make her "unpregnant"? What was the sense of urgency that this needed to be dealt with right then?

I wonder if we are going to find out that there is some connection between the nurse and the boy claiming he had gotten her pregnant -- or between the boy and a school administrator. Why else would the nurse insist upon an immediate test for an unwilling girl who denied having sex?

Posted by: Greg at 03:14 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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