The letter stated that curriculum given to students of Modesto City Schools may not comply with state law, according to information on the Pregnancy Center’s website and complaints the California Department of Justice received from parents.
The Pregnancy Center, also known as Personal Health Now, is asked to substantiate its materials provided to local schools, prove that it did not omit information on students’ rights to access abortion services and that it did not falsely advertise its services. Failing to do so, could result in “further action,” according to the letter.
As of Monday morning, The Modesto Bee had not learned which schools received curriculum from the Pregnancy Center or what exactly the curriculum was.
“The California Healthy Youth Act requires California public schools, including charter schools, to provide comprehensive sexual health education,” reads a statement from Bonta that’s included in the release. “The education is required at least once in middle school and at least once in high school. All instruction in all grades must be age appropriate, medically accurate and may not promote religious doctrine.”
The Pregnancy Center is a faith-based nonprofit organization that opened in 1990. According to its 2022 tax exception filings, it stated that its mission is “dedicated to protecting the unborn, providing for those facing crisis pregnancies and post-abortion trauma and promoting healthy relationships through a system of support with the love of Jesus Christ.”
The Pregnancy Center has 20 calendar days to respond to the DOJ’s letter. The letter asks the Pregnancy Center to provide the following: “business records, memoranda, or other documents [that] should include any and all tests, analyses, research, studies, or other evidence based on the expertise of professionals in the relevant area, which have been conducted and evaluated in an objective manner by qualified persons, using procedures generally accepted in the profession to yield accurate and reliable results.”
The Modesto Bee has reached out to the Modesto Pregnancy Center and Modesto City Schools for comment.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.