12-year-old ordered to take pregnancy test

A lawsuit has been filed against a California school district after a counselor ordered a 12-year-old student to take a pregnancy
test and return with the results – based on a rumor.

Civil rights advocates at the Pacific Justice Institute filed the suit against the Nevada City School District.

"Parents have enough to worry about with sex education being taught in public schools without now having to wonder whether their daughters will be forced to take pregnancy tests," said Pacific Justice President Brad Dacus. "This was a clear breach of parental trust."

The legal advocacy group said the lawsuit focuses on the actions of a counselor who "forced a student to take a pregnancy test at school without her parents' knowledge or consent."

The legal action was filed only after Pacific Justice unsuccessfully attempted to get an apology from the district for the student.

The situation developed in March 2008 when Seven Hills Middle School counselor Steve Davis pulled the student, who was identified only by her initials, C.R., to protect her privacy, from class.

"Davis had heard rumors spread by another student that C.R. was pregnant and demanded to know whether it was true," Pacific Justice said. "C.R. denied she was pregnant and noted that false rumors had been spread about her in the past.

"Instead of accepting C.R.'s denial, or contacting her parents, the counselor got a pregnancy test from the school nurse and ordered C.R. into a bathroom to give a urine sample. Feeling that she did not have a choice, C.R. reluctantly complied," the group said.

"The test was negative. C.R. was embarrassed and humiliated. When she later told her parents about the incident, they were livid. Even after the fact, the school never communicated with C.R.'s parents about the pregnancy test," Pacific Justice said.

The family eventually contacted Troy Vahidi, an affiliate attorney with Pacific Justice.

The lawsuit was filed in Nevada County Superior Court, seeking damages for violation of C.R.'s right to privacy as well as emotional distress.

"The school counselor had no right to force an emotionally fragile 12-year-old to take a pregnancy test," Vahidi said. "She was humiliated, and her privacy rights were trampled. Every minor has the right to make sensitive decisions such as taking a pregnancy test in consultation with her parents and medical providers."

School spokesman Roger Steel told WND the school denied the allegations as without merit and never has had pregnancy tests on campus. Steel said he could not comment beyond that because of the litigation involving a minor.