Specialized
Active Member
My question is this: what do parents have the right to do to their children and at what point are the rights of the child violated.
Obviously children are not property. You cannot kill your child without going to jail. Similarly, you cannot refuse medical procedures that would save your child's life. There are many things your child is legally allowed to do (and that others are legally allowed to do to your child) without your consent.
They can get their hair cut/died. They can get piercings. They can buy/wear clothing. They can receive emergency treatment. etc.
This is because children are individuals with right guaranteed under the US consitution. As a parent, do you have the right to:
Prevent your child from taking medication?
Force you child to take medication?
Prevent your child from having plastic surgery?
Force you child to have plastic surgery?
Prevent your child from receiving emergency care?
Force you child to receive emergency care?
How about forcing a child to have an abortion? How about forcing them to bear a child?
Tough questions.
My view is that as children grow older, they should become more and more in control of their bodies. I think carrying a baby is about as personal a decision as can be. If they're old enough to get pregnant, they're old enough to decide whether to keep it. The alternative is to allow the parents to force them to do either one, and I think either way could be torture.
Another argument that's often made in this discussion is that the kids are going to get the abortion done illegally anyway, so don't you want them to get it done by a trained physician? I dismiss this line of reasoning everywhere I see it. Just because people are going to break the law and hurt themselves doesn't reflect what the law should be. If kids are going to have abortions illegally without parental consent, that's on them.
What are your views? Parental notification/permission or is it left up to who is having the baby?
Obviously children are not property. You cannot kill your child without going to jail. Similarly, you cannot refuse medical procedures that would save your child's life. There are many things your child is legally allowed to do (and that others are legally allowed to do to your child) without your consent.
They can get their hair cut/died. They can get piercings. They can buy/wear clothing. They can receive emergency treatment. etc.
This is because children are individuals with right guaranteed under the US consitution. As a parent, do you have the right to:
Prevent your child from taking medication?
Force you child to take medication?
Prevent your child from having plastic surgery?
Force you child to have plastic surgery?
Prevent your child from receiving emergency care?
Force you child to receive emergency care?
How about forcing a child to have an abortion? How about forcing them to bear a child?
Tough questions.
My view is that as children grow older, they should become more and more in control of their bodies. I think carrying a baby is about as personal a decision as can be. If they're old enough to get pregnant, they're old enough to decide whether to keep it. The alternative is to allow the parents to force them to do either one, and I think either way could be torture.
Another argument that's often made in this discussion is that the kids are going to get the abortion done illegally anyway, so don't you want them to get it done by a trained physician? I dismiss this line of reasoning everywhere I see it. Just because people are going to break the law and hurt themselves doesn't reflect what the law should be. If kids are going to have abortions illegally without parental consent, that's on them.
What are your views? Parental notification/permission or is it left up to who is having the baby?