A high school in Michigan has banned the photos of two pregnant teens' baby bumps from their yearbooks, saying that the images would promote teenage pregnancy, according to the Daily Mail.
Deonna Harris, a senior at White Cloud High School in White Cloud, Mich., says she was "shocked" when school administrators pulled her aside and gave her the news that her photo had to be retaken for the yearbook.
"It made me tear up," she said to WOOD-TV on Wednesday. "I was trying to hold it back because I didn't want everyone to ask me why I was crying and stuff."
She and a fellow pregnant teen, Kimberly Haney, had a photo of them with their baby bumps showing yanked from the school's yearbook, as a staff member had been ordered not to use a picture of the pregnant girls that had been chosen for The Chieftain's 2013 edition. The original photo showed Harris and some friends, including Haney, in a truck outside of the school. Haney and her boyfriend, who are planning on getting married, faked a proposal in the picture, but it wasn't allowed because her bump was showing.
"It made me really upset too and I went to the bathroom and cried," Haney said.
"[The staff member said], 'We have to retake this picture.' I was kind of confused and asked what was wrong with it and she was like, 'Well, the yearbook teacher told me you can't have your belly in, it so we have to retake it," said Harris, who learned the news when she was pulled out of class Wednesday.
School superintendent Barry Seabrook refused to talk on camera Thursday, but told WOOD-TV that the photo and similar pictures showing teens' baby bumps would violate the school's abstinence-only sex education policy.
"We're not saying that they can't have their photos in the yearbook," he said, explaining that while appearing in school pregnant and in the yearbook may seem like the same thing, he worried about reactions and backlash from parents.
The girls disagreed with his decision, feeling they were discriminated against.
"It's not like I was holding my belly," Harris said in defense of the photo. "I wasn't promoting it in any way. It was just a full body picture."
"What's the difference of letting me walk for graduation, letting me walk around the school?," Haney said. "It's the same thing."
While Harris and Haney were given the opportunity to re-shoot their photos while keeping their baby bumps hidden from view, they declined.
