Lynn Public Schools will provide free birth control products and emergency contraception to students who ask to battle a high teen pregnancy rate and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

The Lynn School Committee voted unanimously on the proposal on Thursday night at a packed meeting divided roughly equally been those who supported the plan, and those opposed to it.

Julie Chan, a pediatric nurse practitioner with the Lynn Community Health Center, said last year there were 57 pregnant minors in the Lynn schools. She said there have been 21 chlamydia cases in the district's schools this year.

According to the most recent state Public Health Department figures, Lynn's teen birth rate was 29.2 births per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19, more than triple the state rate.