Sunday, October 26, 2008
The health of teen girls is in danger
4 comments
Uh oh. Proposition 4 might actually pass in California, which would require all minors to get parental consent before obtaining an abortion. Polls show that 46% of people plan to vote in favor of Prop 4, 44% against it, and 10% are unsure. That's really not good.
Becky Bell anyone? The 17 year-old girl who got pregnant in 1988 and was too terrified to tell her parents, and ended up dying from an illegal abortion.
There was also a study done in Massachusetts on the impact of parental consent laws. It was found that 477 minors ended up going to the courts to bypass the parental consent law by proving that they are "mature" enough to make the decision for themselves. Of the 477 cases, the court approved 468 of them. Why are parental consent laws necessary if most minors are already capable enough to make the decision alone? These laws will only overburden the courts when it isn't even necessary in the first place.
Minors are still going to find ways to get around these terrible laws, whether it's going to the courts, crossing state lines, or getting a dangerous illegal abortion. Parental consent laws will bring so much more harm than good. No on Prop 4!
Becky Bell anyone? The 17 year-old girl who got pregnant in 1988 and was too terrified to tell her parents, and ended up dying from an illegal abortion.
There was also a study done in Massachusetts on the impact of parental consent laws. It was found that 477 minors ended up going to the courts to bypass the parental consent law by proving that they are "mature" enough to make the decision for themselves. Of the 477 cases, the court approved 468 of them. Why are parental consent laws necessary if most minors are already capable enough to make the decision alone? These laws will only overburden the courts when it isn't even necessary in the first place.
Minors are still going to find ways to get around these terrible laws, whether it's going to the courts, crossing state lines, or getting a dangerous illegal abortion. Parental consent laws will bring so much more harm than good. No on Prop 4!
Posts
October 26, 2008 at 9:03 PM
I love how a girl has to appear in front of a judge trying to convince them she's mature enough NOT to have a child.
October 27, 2008 at 11:32 AM
I love how the big case against this amendment is that ONE Girl died from killing her own child. This one girl's death as a result of her own actions justifies the killing of millions of unborn babies as a result of someone else's irresponsibility? If a minor is going to get pregnant, she's already shown that she is not responsible enough to decide the fate of the unborn life inside her that she created. There's a darn good reason for this amendment to pass.
October 27, 2008 at 2:51 PM
That was just one single example to show what can happen as a result of these heinous laws. Becky Bell is not the only girl who has been harmed or will be harmed from parental consent laws. You think Becky is the only girl who is too terrified to be honest with her parents about her sex life? What about girls who are victims of abuse from their parents? What about girls who will be shunned or kicked out of their houses for getting pregnant?
Getting pregnant at a young age is not always a sign of irresponsibility. A girl can take every precaution necessary and still get pregnant - condoms often break, and birth control often fails. Nothing is 100% effective. And what about the girls who are raped and left pregnant? What about the girls who are victims of abstinence-only education and therefore were never taught how to use a condom? Of course this isn't the case for all teenagers - some girls do just think pregnancy will never happen to them and thus don't bother with birth control, but you can't pass a law that will affect just those girls. Parental consent laws will affect all young girls. It just isn't fair to impose restrictions on the girls who are responsible and who couldn't prevent getting pregnant.
I was not attempting to make my "big case" in this one post. Becky Bell was one incident in an entire repertoire of negative consequences of these laws. I could on for hours on why this policy will do far more harm than good.
October 27, 2008 at 4:27 PM
Amy is right... these laws will affect all teen girls. You can't just make a law that says "abortion is illegal" or "parental consent is required"... "only for girls who got pregnant because they were irresponsible... but don't worry about you responsible girls who got pregnant by accident! You're fine!"
Would you prefer to pass this amendment requiring parental consent... which would inevitably lead to many parents prohibiting their daughters from getting abortions... which would then lead to more unwanted pregnancies. If a girl is too irresponsible to decide whether or not to have a baby, how the hell is she responsible enough to raise one?