Tomorrow in the NJ Assembly, the Education Committee will meet at 10:00 AM in room 16 State Annex. 

NJ Legislators Disrespect NJ Parents 

This information alert is largely based on a Stand for Health Freedom alert. 

• New Jersey S3156 passed in the full senate on May 20, 2024 and is now being heard in the assembly on Thursday. This bill allows schools to lease property to “federally qualified health centers,” or school-based healthcare centers (SBHC).  It was introduced and passed through the Senate Education Committee on May 6th in less than three minutes with NO questions, comments, or discussion. RAILROADING the parents of NJ.  Check out this blog post outlining the bill, the vote and the implications of this bill passing in New Jersey. 

• The Assembly version of this bill (A4381) is sponsored by Luanne M. Peterpaul, Esq., (Legislative District 11). This version of the bill “permits boards of education to lease certain school property to federally qualified health centers without bidding.” Further, this bill adds “federally qualified health centers to the list of entities to which a local board of education may lease school buildings and property, no longer necessary for school purposes, for a nominal fee and without following the competitive bidding process. Other entities already on the list include federal, State, and local governmental units, volunteer fire companies and rescue squads, veterans and senior citizens organizations, and certain nonprofit organizations.”

• So, what’s the big deal? And, what’s at stake? This is not an issue of school space or economics but rather direct access and influence of children. Parental rights and control of healthcare decisions are at stake.

• Let’s consider the fact that the NJ state legislature will soon be voting on lowering the age of consent for behavioral services (S1970/A2328) from the current 16 years of age to 14. In 2023, NJ expanded access to reproductive healthcare by removing prescription requirements for self-administered hormonal contraceptives, and as of Monday, May 27th, 2024 “No-prescription birth control now available in NJ” with no age restrictions.

• This means that a health center placed in a NJ high school could provide services to any student without parental consent.

• SBHCs are intended to replace the family doctor. School-based Health Centers are being referred to in medical literature as “medical homes” for children, replacing primary care providers and moving the child’s primary health care to the school environment where administrators and doctors replace parents as decision-makers. 

• Need more information on School-based Health Centers (SBCH’s)?  Our Friends at Stand for Health Freedom  devoted a whole “battles ahead page” to this issue you can find here.

• Further information on this bill from our friends at Innovative Parenting NJ, go here!

• Fill out the form and tell your Assembly representatives “NO” to making it easier for “federally qualified health centers” or school-based healthcare centers to reside on the campuses of NJ schools.

School-based health centers (SBHCs), already in place in several states, seek to replace the family doctor and provide a full range of services including vaccinations, prescriptions, reproductive counseling, mental and behavioral health counseling. Mostly unregulated, the SBHCs have few, if any, guardrails to protect parental rights and meet minimum standards of care.

Allowing schools to lease property to “federally qualified health centers,” increases the likelihood of the placement of healthcare centers within school settings, taking parents out of the picture for their child's healthcare, relying on the child to make informed decisions without a fully developed brain or full knowledge of their health history, and placing health practitioners in an unethical position. There are many potentially harmful implications of bill A4381. 

Please vote NO S3156/A4381.