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Should minor girls be required by law to obtain parental consent for an abortion?

Normally, parents are legally empowered to make medical decisions for their minor children, and minors cannot obtain medical procedures without parental consent. How should that apply in the case of pregnancy? Should pregnancy and abortion be treated differently from other medical conditions? Should parents be allowed by law to force a daughter under 18 to carry a pregnancy to term or to abort against her will? Should minor teenagers be granted more power over their medical decisions? Should the law grant exemptions in cases of potential abuse or neglect if the pregnancy or abortion were discovered?

Kelly Elmore , 05.06.2012, 15:38
Idea status: completed

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Chris, 13.07.2012, 00:43
Since the parent would be responsible for the care and well being of any baby born to a minor child it seems to me that the parents' consent should be required to have the child not to abort it. Aborting the baby reestablishes the parent - child status quo whereas bringing the baby to term changes this relationship in ways that must require consent on the part of the participants.

If my daughter told me she was pregnant and had decided to abort it I would have to defer to her decision since she is not obligating me in any way or altering our relationship and it is her body. If however she told me she was having the baby we would have to talk about that.

Either way though, if she was a minor I would like the law to require that I be informed about the situation.

This is a really good question.
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i_amjohngalt, 18.08.2012, 23:54
Yes. Minors are not financially independent enough to afford such a procedure, and the cost would fall on their parents or family. If it were not required, it would force the parents to pay for a procedure that they do not support, or it would call for the government to fund the abortion. Both cases are messy. Yes, women do have the right to their own bodies, but in pursuit of that right, they cannot victimize others.
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