New Jersey board approves 'Ejaculate Responsibly' book after teacher was 'disturbed' it was not included

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A New Jersey school board approved a book about abortion after a teacher spoke up about the book not being included on meeting agenda items.

The teacher expressed being "disturbed" at a school board meeting Thursday when she tried to convince Berkeley Heights Township School District Board members to approve the donation of a book called "Ejaculate Responsibly" by Gabrielle Stanley Blair. 

"I'm frankly dismayed and disturbed that the Board of Education has not accepted a donation of books entitled ‘Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion,’" Sharon Leahy, a social studies teacher at Governor Livingston High School said.

The book was donated to Governor Livingston High School for the school’s "student-driven" Literary Lunch program. Approval of accepting the donation is custom for the school board. The approval process was delayed and was not included in the meeting’s agenda.

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"Ejaculate Responsibly" by Gabrielle Stanley Blair (iStock/)

Leahy claimed that the donation was submitted in time for inclusion on the agenda for that night. The Literary Lunch program is "optional" and requires parent permission, Leahy said. 

She went on to say, "We're extremely disappointed that the Berkeley Heights Ed Foundation chose not to support literary lunch. Over the years, the selected books for Lit Lunch included discussions on school shootings, immigration, Islamophobia, race, the Holocaust, and most recently, child soldiers and ethical choices compromised by war. This Lit Lunch is voluntary and at no cost to the district. Therefore, the issue must be content."

Leahy went on to praise the book.

"I do not understand why you, the Board of Ed, or the BHEF, for that matter, would prevent students from participating in an academic discussion about women's health during women's history month. The discussion of the heart of the book does not focus on religious or sexual morality. It reframes the arguments around the abortion debate, which is a monumental women's issue and societal battle [which has lasted] over fifty years. The last election indicates the relevancy of this topic," she said.

Sharon Leahy, a social studies teacher at Governor Livingston High School "disturbed" that book that encourages vasectomies is not included in school. (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Leahy was not the only one who voiced support for the book. Payton Buckley, a junior at Governor Livingston High School, said that the Literacy Lunch program was meant to be an opportunity for students to have a safe place for discussion of "hard topics." The student added that the book is a "relatively nonpartisan approach towards issues such as abortion, and continuously cites relevant and reliable data."

A resident and sponsor of the Literacy Lunch program also addressed the board, expressing disappointment that the book was not on the agenda for that night.

A motion to approve the book donation was proposed, despite a board member sharing concerns about the board's procedures not being followed. The donation was approved by the school board, seven to one, with board member Robert Cianciulli voting now. He said he had not read the book.

Ejaculate Responsibly, is a book that offers a "provocative reframing of the abortion issue in post-Roe America," a description of the book on Amazon states. It contains a series of "28 brief arguments," in which the author makes the case for redirecting the abortion debate away from "controlling and legislating women's bodies" to highlight "men's lack of accountability in preventing unwanted pregnancies."

Back in October last year, the book's author Blair did an interview with NPR, saying that she indeed wanted to "shift" the conversation about abortion to men not being held accountable for causing unwanted pregnancies.

A New Jersey school teacher is "disturbed" that a book that encourages vasectomies is not included in school.

"It's a bit of a prescription, and it's also an argument... It's called that because I'm trying to shift the conversation about abortion away from controlling women's bodies and legislating women's bodies, and instead focus on the fact that men are not held accountable for causing unwanted pregnancies," Blair told NPR.

Blair also said that it was "absolutely bonkers, just hearing man after man grandstanding about abortion."

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"It's so clear to me they don't understand the issue," Blair told NPR. "They don't understand that real people are going to be affected by this, that it affects both wanted and unwanted pregnancies like that. They just don't really understand what's happening here, and they're just using this as a political tool."

Blair also it would be "huge" if vasectomies were free and easily accessible. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Berkeley Heights Public Schools board for comment, but they did not immediately respond.

Berkeley Heights Public Schools, located in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, presides over 6 schools and has approximately 2,499 students in grades K-12.