Holly Seymour, Public Administration (R51-S12C)
When it comes to our children, we want to know; no, we have the right to know, what happens to them. This holds true especially when speaking of medical procedures. Abortion is quite an intrusive medical procedure, wouldn’t you say?
The dispute here lies with the laws governing
parental notification of minors’ abortions, not so much with the parental
permission of these abortions. Currently, there are 37 states that have requirements
for at least one parent’s involvement when a minor is seeking an abortion. Of
these 37 states, 11 require only notification; the other 26 states require
notification of one, or both, parents plus parental consent. (Guttmacher
Institute, 2012) So what of the remaining 13 states? They have no policies in
effect, thus allowing these children to proceed with an abortion with the
parents possibly never knowing. Two
variations here are Delaware and South Carolina. While Delaware is a notification only state,
this only applies to minors under the age of 16. South Carolina, a consent requirement state,
makes this requirement only of minors under the age of 17.
Often times, minors seeking abortion have been
threatened by their parents or fear the repercussions that their parents may
impose. A young person faced with these
threats and fears may not know that there are other options available to
them. Imagine being a young, pregnant
teenager, that has been threatened with being thrown out of the only home ever
known. Believing there is nowhere else to go and knowing that there will be a
baby to take care of too. Is there
another option? Some parents threaten
their pregnant children with violence or even death. These types of scenarios, as unbelievable as
they may be, are why 36 states have judicial bypass provisions in effect. Still 6 other states make allowances for
another adult relative to weigh in on the decision.
Some minors living in states that require
parental consent feel that they are left with no other choice than to travel to
another state close by that allows minors’ abortions to be performed without
parental involvement of any kind. The
Senate passed a bill in 2006 making it a crime for anyone to transport a minor
over state lines to have an abortion.
Democrats opposed the bill, suggesting that these minors may have no
other recourse than to rely on someone, other than a parent, to provide them
with assistance; these people may be discouraged to help out of fear of the
legal ramifications. The Republicans
countered, indicating that the judicial bypass procedures would provide a “work
around” for situations where the minor cannot obtain parental consent.
There are steps that can be implemented,
beginning at a very early age that may assist in curbing the pregnancy rates
amongst minors. Government agencies may
provide parents with methods and education on how to discuss sex education with
their children at age appropriate levels.
Sex education has been taught in schools since 1981, but with a foundation of abstinence. Although abstinence is the only 100%
effective method of preventing pregnancy, it is not practical to focus on it
solely. Children should be taught about
the physical and emotional traumas that child birth and abortion can
cause. Realistic scenarios should be
presented to children depicting the difficulties that can be experienced;
children having children should not be glorified. Sex education should not be looked at as a condoning
gesture but as a preventative practice.
Government is faced with the most trying duty;
to enact the laws and policies expected to address the parental involvement
topic. Government must have the ability
to acknowledge the rights of the pregnant minors while not infringing on the
rights of the parents of these minors.
While every person should maintain the right to make decisions that will
affect their lives, parents hold a responsibility to guide their children and
sometimes make decisions for them. There
does come an age of understanding though; a time when a person can make life
decisions for oneself. The final
decision should rest with the person carrying the child, the one whose life
will be affected most by the decision made.
However, that person, still being a child too, has parents that have a
responsibility and their rights as such should also be respected.
Reference Links:
That's a tough topic to discuss! I would always err on the side of parental rights of minors. I totally agree that the decision should be made by the one who is most affected by it, such as the minor. However, is the minor in the best state of mind to make that decision without some kind of parental consent or permission?
ReplyDeleteFor the same reasons minors can't make a lot of adult decisions according to law, I would also say abortion should follow the same path-- that parents should have a controlling interest with how a minor is to go about abortion.
Maybe it is not practical to get both parents involved, but a least one of them, or a guardian should, at a minimum be notified. I would still like to see notification and consent by at least one authoritative figure over the minor.
In any case, I don't think there is any real easy way around this problem. Its a tough call for anyone involved in making these kinds of policies. Maybe it comes down to a special circumstance in which the minor should be the controlling party in making any decisions over abortion. One of probably the only independent decision or circumstance that could be made outside of parental or guardian consent.
I think abortion is a private matter. I don't think we have the right to make that decision for someone else. I agree the one carry the baby has to make the final decision. I think when someone is considering abortion that counseling about all their options should be available to them.
ReplyDeleteAs far as parental consent I think there again we are letting someone else make the decision. Most young adults don't dare to ask their parents to get on birth control let alone to have an abortion.
I think that parents should have to give consent for the abortion procedure. A minor cannot walk into a hospital and get any other invasive surgery with such potentially life altering consequences, both physically and emotionally, without the consent of their parent. I do not understand why abortion should be any different. The minor has already showed that they do not have the best judgment by being in the situation of having to get an abortion in the first place.
ReplyDelete