Controversy intensified today over the Portland School Committee's decision to make prescription birth control available at King Middle School.

Nick McGee, chairman of Portland's Republican City Committee, called Wednesday's 7-2 vote "an attack on the moral fabric of our community and a black eye for our state."

Mark Ellis, chairman of the Maine Republican Party, urged the School Committee to reconsider the "misguided policy" in a news release.

Mark Reilly, an at-large candidate for the Portland City Council, called on the council to review the School Committee's decision because the health center that would provide the birth control is funded and operated by the city's Public Health Division.

Although students need written parental permission to be treated at Portland's six school-based health centers, state law allows them to receive confidential care for reproductive health, mental health and substance abuse issues, officials said.

School Committee Chairman John Coyne, who voted against the middle school measure, is pushing a proposal that would allow parents to enroll their children at King's health center but prevent the prescription of birth control without parental consent.