Florida: Career Day, or Anti-Abortion Day?

In Florida, a school's "career day" exhibition turned into an anti-abortion exhibition when the Pregnancy Center of Pinellas County booth presented models of fetuses at different stages of development and anti-abortion pamphlets. Were they looking for recruits for abortion-center protests?

The St. Petersburg Times reports:

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.

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.

Yes, officials made a lot of assumptions — for example, that an anti-abortion group would limit itself to the rules if that means not furthering its political agenda. In the future they should exercise a great deal more caution before involving themselves in any way with extremist political groups.

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