A bill that would require parental approval of birth control pills and other prescription drugs for minors has opened a passionate debate in Maine. Pro-life advocates say the bill will steer discussion of pre-marital sex to where it belongs--in the family, not health clinics. Supporters of family planning say the measure endangers young people. Now a group of parents is entering the fray, saying they're OK with not being asked for permission.

Nan Simpson of Brooks is the mother of two teenage boys. She and her husband pride themselves on being able to talk about anything with their kids. "We try to keep up with the latest trends but know that MTV, sitcoms, movies, the Internet, and even music are always three steps ahead of us."

It's possible, Simpson says, for parental advice about high-risk behavior and how to get help to be swept aside by kids. Some children from unstable households may never even get the message. "It's nice to know that Maine's minors have rights to confidential health services, because they exist. Let us not change this right," she said.

Simpson is among the 500-plus parents who have signed an online petition at meparents.org opposing the legislation known as LD 31. If it does pass, Maine will have the strictest law requiring parental consent for teen contraception use. Utah and Texas require minors receiving state-funded contraceptive services to obtain parents' permission.

The petition-signers span the state, and include Maine's former First Lady Mary Herman, wife to former Gov. Angus King, and the mother of a teenage girl. "There are times, whether it be a conversation on weight control, acne, or conversations about birth control, when she just doesn't want me in the room with her doctor," she said. "There are times when her health is more important than our mother-daughter relationship."

But supporters of the bill say the petition-signers do not represent the majority of Maine parents. One of the bill's co-sponsors, Republican Sen. Lois Snowe-Mello of Poland, says many parents in her district tell her that their children's ability to get contraception without their permission has them feeling left out of the picture. "We've got to let our children know that having relations is very serious and that it leads into a whole change of life for them," she says.

Danny Deveau agrees. He's from Van Buren, and the father of a 15-year-old girl. He says the way the way the law is written now, government and schools have more influence over young people's reproductive health than parents. "It's up to the parents to raise their children," he says.

As Catholics, Deveau and his wife have taught their daughter that pre-marital sex is wrong. "As of today, she has no interest in obtaining contraceptives or having sexual intimacy."

But Deveau acknowleges that not all parents are as engaged as he and his wife are. And Snowe-Mello says that's something that's been nagging her. "I don't know how we're going to address those kids that don't have good family backgrounds--I am concerned about that."

It's a big worry for the Family Planning Association of Maine, which represents family planning clinics around the state. Spokeswoman Kate Brogan says that Maine has the country's third-lowest teen pregnancy rate, but says that could change with the passage of the bill. "If teens are denied access to contraceptive care, the odds of a sexually-active teen who doesn't have access to contraception has a 90 percent chance of becoming pregnant within a year. So you can do the math there."

Brogan says similar legislation has been introduced twice before in the last five years. The bill's supporters say they're hopeful, with a GOP-majority in the Legislature and a Republican governor, that the legislation will have a better chance this session.