If parents want to be informed whether their daughter is being given powerful hormones as “emergency conrtaception,” they will have to opt out of this NYC Department of Education program. You know, like the credit card companies work their privacy notices.

School nurse offices stocked with the contraceptives can dispense “Plan B” emergency contraception and other oral or injectable birth control to girls without telling their parents — unless parents opt out after getting a school informational letter about the new program.

CATCH — Connecting Adolescents To Comprehensive Health — is part of a citywide attack against the epidemic of teen pregnancy, which spurs many girls — most of them poor — to drop out of school.

“Comprehensive health”?

So far, during an unpublicized pilot program in five city schools last year, 567 students received Plan B tablets and 580 students received Reclipsen birth-control pills, the city Department of Health told The Post.

This fall, students can also get Depo-Provera, a birth-control drug injected once every three months, officials said.

Oral and injectable contraceptives require prescriptions, which, in the CATCH program, are written by Health Department doctors.

What happened to the sex ed classes? And the distribution of condoms? Now we know 14- and 15-year-olds are going to have sex. It’s only natural. And you know what nature is like. It’s lions and tigers and bears and pregnant high school students. So I guess we’ve created zoos for the former and public schools for the latter.

I’m sure both “race realists” and progressives are applauding this move to distribute powerful hormones to teenage girls in the inner cities. The next step, of course, is abortions during home room. And then, when that proves disruptive, sterilization. And then we’ll have made real progress. It’ll be 1924 all over again, with public schools subbing for those “State institutions.”

Don’t get me wrong: teenagers should not be having babies. I’m almost certain, though, that there are ways to prevent this short of distributing these kinds of drugs.

Below is a list of possible side effects from Depo-Provera, which will be prescribed by doctors whose hospital privileges are no doubt limited to prison facilities:

Medroxyprogesterone may cause side effects. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:

• changes in menstrual periods (See SPECIAL PRECAUTIONS)
• weight gain
• weakness
• tiredness
• nervousness
• irritability
• depression
• difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
• hot flashes
• breast pain, swelling, or tenderness
• stomach cramps or bloating
• leg cramps
• back or joint pain
• acne
• loss of hair on scalp
• swelling, redness, irritation, burning, or itching of the vagina
• white vaginal discharge
• changes in sexual desire
• cold or flu symptoms
• pain, irritation, lumps, redness or scarring in the place where the medication was injected

Some side effects can be serious. The following side effects are uncommon, but if you experience any of them, call your doctor immediately:

• sudden shortness of breath
• sudden sharp or crushing chest pain
• coughing up blood
• severe headache
• nausea
• vomiting
• dizziness or faintness
• change or loss of vision
• double vision
• bulging eyes
• difficulty speaking
• weakness or numbness in an arm or leg
• seizure
• yellowing of the skin or eyes
• extreme tiredness
• pain, swelling, warmth, redness, or tenderness in one leg only
• menstrual bleeding that is heavier or lasts longer than normal
• severe pain or tenderness just below the waist
• rash
• hives
• itching
• difficulty breathing or swallowing
• swelling of the hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs
• difficult, painful, or frequent urination
• constant pain, pus, warmth, swelling, or bleeding in the place where the medication was injected

Bulging eyes, seizures, difficulty speaking, pus — sounds like a New York City classroom to me.

What are you going to do? To be honest, is it that stunning? Can you really get outraged anymore? Come on. This is the Strange New World we live in. And frankly, parents still can intervene here, as absurd a notion as that may be these days, owing to the powerful forces at work subverting parental authority. And by that I mean stupidity. But don’t expect a NYC public school to help there.