Hot Topic (3/25): Parental notification laws and abortion
The following information appears on this website:
"The rules about abortion are different depending on where you live. In some states, you can get an abortion without telling your parents. In others, there are Parental Consent or Parental Notification laws.
* Parental Consent means that you will need to get permission from a parent if you are under a certain age, usually 18.
* Parental Notification means that you will have to tell a parent if you are under a certain age, usually 18, but you don't need their permission."
The website includes a sidebar with this statement: usually you can get around telling your parents
* * *
What do you think about parental notification and/or consent laws? Would you be concerned if your adolescent daughter had an abortion without your knowledge or consent? Do you thinks these type of laws are a good or bad idea?
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I am on the fence about this. While I am prochoice I believe that some teenagers often have abortions because they are afraid to tell their parents. If they tell their parents, this might eliminate one of the reasons for an unnecessary abortion. However, I do think their may be geniune reasons why a teenager is afraid to confront their parents about this. I certainly don't think that parental permission should be required, but like I said, I'm on the fence about parental notification. It is a medical procedure though. So I guess, legally the parents probably should have to give permission. Don't they have to give permission for any other medical procedure?
Iam all for parental notification. When my daughter was in an auto accident I slept at the hospital with her she was seventeen. She couldn't get a blood test without my consent. This is life altering surgery so the parents need to be informed. The parents will be the ones cleaning up the mess and making the decisions if there are complications.
I have a nine-month-old daughter, so I won't have to deal with this type of situation for quite awhile yet (if ever). If she did want to get an abortion someday, however, I would be okay with her not telling me as long as she had someone knowledgeable to discuss everything with. She's my daughter, not my property, and her life is hers to live as she chooses.
By law, parents are held responsible for their kids til they are 18 (granted that they still live at home). An abortion is a medical procedure, so yes the parents need to be notified and give consent. I don't think the gov't should pick and choose what areas of our kids lives we are responsible for.
Absolutely! Parental consent should definitely be required as it is for every other medical procedure. My only concern is that many parents finding out would FORCE a child to have an abortion despite that not being their will.
People forget that an abortion, just like any other medical prodedure, has risks associated with it. Women having abortions are more likely to have miscarriages & problems with infertility. Plus, there's the risk of death from bleeding out. Is that a rare risk? Of course, but it IS a risk nonetheless. I belive that parents and children both should fully understand the risks associated not only with the pregnancy but with the abortion as well.
I believe the same should apply for birth control and the morning after pill as well (both of which are currently dispensed for free at many planned parenthood centers). Again, it is a med which like any other med could have side effects. There may be things like family history that a parent could give insight on that a child wouldn't know. Maybe they should have one type of pill over another because of a family history of stroke or breast cancer. If they don't have the parents involved, then they won't have this insight.
This is why, as with any other procedure or medicine, parents should be involved in the decision-making process and required to give consent.
Amy
Quoting Mergath:
When a teenage girl is pregnant, it should be her choice to continue with the pregnancy or not, because it will affect her far past her eighteenth birthday, and she should be able to make that decision without parental interference. However, if a minor does decide to have an abortion without notifying her parents, I do think she should be required to meet with a counselor before the procedure, just to make sure she understands the entire situation, as well as her rights, other options, etc.
I have a nine-month-old daughter, so I won't have to deal with this type of situation for quite awhile yet (if ever). If she did want to get an abortion someday, however, I would be okay with her not telling me as long as she had someone knowledgeable to discuss everything with. She's my daughter, not my property, and her life is hers to live as she chooses.
Spoken like a true liberal.
What about that aborted baby? I guess he/she doesn't deserve a "choice".
Of course the parent should be notified!!! An underage person can not comprehend the consequences. Stop trying to be the kids' "friend". We are parents and some people should act like it. Children look to us for guidance. Stop choosing to opt out on your personal responsibility!!!
In my state they are required to tell you nothing. What is stupid, is that my child has to have my permission to get her ears pierced, but she can walk into an abortion clinic and they can tell me nothing? She could die in there and I would get no answers, but god forbid she puts a hole in her ear without my consent. This is just the most backwards thing I have ever heard!
Quoting mccainiac:
Spoken like a true liberal.
What about that aborted baby? I guess he/she doesn't deserve a "choice".
Of course the parent should be notified!!! An underage person can not comprehend the consequences. Stop trying to be the kids' "friend". We are parents and some people should act like it. Children look to us for guidance. Stop choosing to opt out on your personal responsibility!!!
Ah yes, let's start the partisan sneering, by all means.
You can't abort a baby. You abort a fetus, which means that, at the point many people get abortions, you're aborting a cluster of cells. And a cluster of cells isn't a baby any more than it's a coffee table.
In regard to the specific topic, since I wouldn't tell my daughter whether or not to keep the baby after it is born, I wouldn't do the same before the birth. Either way, it's her decision, and if she didn't want to tell me, I would assume she had a valid reason for that. It's not opting out on my responsibility, it's respecting another person's rights as an individual human being and a parent. I'm not going to make a decision for my daughter that will have a lifetime of consequences. All I can do is, if she chooses to include me in her decision, support her and love her.
Also, there are many children with abusive parents who would be in danger if they had to tell their parents. Do you want to be responsible for what happens to them because of mandatory parental notification laws?
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