Oct 09 2008
Parental Notification for Abortions
On the ballot in November is proposition 4 which basically says medical facilities would have to notify the parents of teenagers seeking abortions. If for some reason the teenager does not want their parent to be notified then an adult family member notification would be allowed providing the teenager can prove that by telling her parents she feels she would be abused. It’s geared towards protecting the girl and at the same time making sure she is provided with the best care possible.
Now while I am all in favor of a woman being able to choose and do what’s right for her particular situation I am in favor of proposition 4. I think teenagers need to have an adult advise and help them decide what would be best. Teenagers are too young to make an informed decision. They need the wisdom only an adult can provide. Being a teenager normally is difficult enough with all of the emotional baggage and adding pregnancy to the mix I think would be devastating. As a result they are not clear headed enough to make a wise choice. They need to rely on an adult to help them during this difficult time. The argument against this is that the teenage girl would be afraid to tell parents or relatives and therefore get a dangerous “back alley” abortion or even worse commit suicide. I think that is a little extreme.
This measure I think is also a good argument for teaching sex education at an earlier age in schools. Parents are not always comfortable teaching their children about sex. Prevention needs to be taught and provided. If the parents are unwilling to provide their children with the necessary education to keep them safe then by all means schools should shoulder the burden. It’s a matter of safety and prevention.
I do believe each person’s right to choose but in this case teenagers are just too young. Your thoughts?
I agree with you- prop 4 has its risks given that they may try another method however it is important for a girl to have some type of support when in this situation. I work in a teen parent center and see many girls come in who are in that situation and most of the time they do not want their parents to know because it would upset them- majority of the time they are not in danger. We have that law in Phila about parental notification. There is a loop hole if the girl sees a judge and convinces the judge it is not in their best interest to tell a parent they will waive the requirement. However, as a parent I would want to know if my daughter was in this situation so I can support her and make the best choice for her. Besides, there is always the possibilities of complications, depression and so on. And it is not something a teenage girl should face alone.
As a parent I would want to know, but there are many parents who are going to be pro-life and who the teen would know would not allow the abortion to go ahead. Then as cdbase says, the teen is going to be dealing with enough and they don’t want to upset their parents and have to deal with feeling that they’ve let them down. I really think it depends on the age of the teenage girl. If they are 16+ then having some adult support should be enough. If they are under 16, then I think that it has to be more of a parent thing. It’s tough being a mom and saying that my elder teen’s rights should come before my own right to know, but I know from reading blogs where abortion issues are raised that some mother’s would put their beliefs before their child’s right to choose. Also, if I had a 16+ daughter in that situation, I’d much rather she had the right to get proper attention than having some backstreet abortion simply because she didn’t want to let me know and there’s a law that says I have to be informed if she has it done safely.
Exactly, I agree with both. I would want to know as well and I think parents should be notified.
Thanks for reading and commenting.