Parental involvement in regards to teen abortions

[GraceAbounds]

I'm doing a paper regarding parental involvement in regards to teen abortions and thought it would make for a good thread and also help me with some research/interview type information.

When answering if you could list whether you are a parent or not, if you have teenagers, and if they are male or female that would be helpful to me.

If your teenager was pregnant do you think that the parents have a right to know? Do you think the teenager should have to have parental consent to get an abortion?

 

[NightWarrior]

Wow Grace, opening up a can today I think we debated about this previously, we as in the forum that is.

I have 3 teenagers. 2 females, 1 male. I believe we absolutely have the right to know if my teen is pregnant. Since I am responsible for them, I'd also be responsible for their child. Having said that, I also feel they should need parental consent based on the fact that not only is this going to be a physical issue (surgery), but the emotional toll on my teen will need to be dealt with professionally. How many women that have had an abortion while a teen have issues when they are older?

 

[GraceAbounds]

Wow Grace, opening up a can today I think we debated about this previously, we as in the forum that is.

LOL!
Sorry if this is a repeat thread.
Hopefully you guys will still feel like participating.
I agree with your above answer. I have 3 kids, only one is a teenager at present though.

 

[dt3]

No kids yet.

I think the parents have every right to know and be involved in the decision making process, the same as they do for any medical procedure. Dependents don't have the same right to privacy as adults, imo. They wouldn't remove a teen's appendix without parental consent, why would they remove a fetus???

 

[Reaver]

< 18 = parents must know

= or > 18 = person is a legal adult, capable of making their own decisions (unless they are mentally handicapped, etc, etc)

 

[drb]

i don't think the parents don't need to know especially if they'll "forbid" it from happening

 

[Reaver]

if someone under 18 cant handle the responsibility of drinking or smoking yet, how can they possibly decide the fate of a child. parents should be notified, and they should help their child work through the decisions.

 

[Maritxu]

I think it depends on the maturity of my children and how it happened for me to take a decission. But as long as they are under 18, I want to have the right to know and make the decission.

 

[NightWarrior]

I think it depends on the maturity of my children and how it happened for me to take a decission. But as long as they are under 18, I want to have the right to know and make the decission.

I'm confused by this. What do you mean "how it happened"? Why would that have any bearing?

 

[Maritxu]

I'm confused by this. What do you mean "how it happened"? Why would that have any bearing?

Yes it does a bit. It's different when my kid would be 17 and I think that they are mature enough to decide. If it happened because they went around having sex with complete stragers and decided condoms are not fun, I would asume they are not responsible. If my 17 year old had sex with her/his bf/gf and the contraceptive didn't work, I think it sucks but that wouldn't make me think they are irresponsible, and I would let them decide.

 

[NightWarrior]

Yes it does a bit. It's different when my kid would be 17 and I think that they are mature enough to decided. If it happened because they went around having sex with complete stragers and decided condoms are not fun, I would asume they are not responsible. If my 17 year old had sex with her/his bf/gf and the contraceptive didn't work, I think it sucks but that wouldn't make me think they are irresponsible, and I would let them decide.

But then you would know! Your not supposed to have sex until your married. :tongue:

 

[Tim]

Can we take this debate a step further and ask the question...

If anyone under the age of 18 is required to have parental consent, does that mean that the parent has a say in whether or not the pregnancy can be terminated?

Can a parent force their child to have an abortion?
Do they have the right to force them to have the child? And in that case, who then is ultimately responsible for that child's welfare?

 

[NightWarrior]

Can we take this debate a step further and ask the question...

If anyone under the age of 18 is required to have parental consent, does that mean that the parent has a say in whether or not the pregnancy can be terminated?

Can a parent force their child to have an abortion?
Do they have the right to force them to have the child? And in that case, who then is ultimately responsible for that child's welfare?

This is an excellent question. I don't think anyone can fully answer this question (unless they have gone thru it) because it is different when you are actually faced with the situation. I think with this scenario, you must weigh a lot of factors, such as age and maturity of the child who is having the child. What I mean by this is, if they are 17 I would probably handle this different from if they were 13. I am interested to know the people who would force their child into an abortion though.

 

[Ezpzpizzi]

Well I'm a teenager, fourteen as some of you know, and I really think if a teenager were to get pregnant that they should tell the parent, or the parent should at least find out. Once theres another life involved it does involve the parent and it is automatically there business. And in definite, parental consent should be asked upon for a teenager to have an abortion. They are too serious to be depended upon just a teenager ignorant enough to get themselves pregnant in the first place.

 

[GraceAbounds]

Thanks for sharing your perspective.