Underage people are prohibiting smoking, drinking, or going in field trips without their parents’ permission. Therefore, how can a teenage girl have an abortion without the approval of her parents? Abortion itself is a controversial subject, and underage abortion is even more controversial. Minors should not have an abortion without the consent of their parents or their legal guardians for a variety of reasons.
First, most adolescents are not mature enough to make decisions that will change their lives forever. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius state, “Some older adolescents have the cognitive ability and capacity to reason similarly to an adult. However, neuroimaging studies have shown that the brain undergoes major reorganization during adolescence, particularly in the regions of the brain relating to executive functions” (qtd. in Christian Med.). In other words, the majority of teens lack maturity and wisdom to make life changing decisions (Christian Med.). In most situations, teens are desperate, and they make choices without thinking about the long- term consequences of their actions. If abortion is hard, enough in a grown woman imaging how it must be in a teenager with no one by her side to counsel and guide her. Imaging how confusing would be the mind of a fourteen years old girl going through an abortion without having her parents to tell her that everything will be fine. How can a fourteen years old girl handle that much stress?
Second, to ensure that parental rights are enforced; minors should need parental consent to obtain an abortion (Earll). Parents are legally responsible for the well-being of their children. They are responsible for giving th...
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M.D., M.P.H., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Brent Adams, Acting Secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, in his official capacity; Daniel Bluthardt, Director of the Divi." 2010. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 24 Dec. 2013 .
Why Parents Should Know. 25 Nov. 2013
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Nearly one million teenage girls become pregnant each year each year. (About Teen Pregnancy, 2014). Imagine your own daughter or someone else’s daughter who is very close to you is experience this. Should these teenage girls suffer for their in experience and lack of knowledge or even a moment of carelessness? Teenage girls are just exploring puberty and experience new things and even though sex is not encourage in many households many teenagers still go out and proceed with these activities. However, can they really be blamed for wanting to explore their own bodies? That is why strict anti-abortion laws should be lifted because even though precautions are taken accidents can still happen and there is no reason that to make young teenagers suffer by carrying a child they are not obviously ready for. When many teenage girls gets pregnant the often have to deal with the pregnancy by getting unsafe abortions. This could lead to many medical complications in the future and cause major harm to the body of the
How can a child make the decision for the life of another child by themselves? In this paper I will outline the mental, physical, and safety issues of minors (age 18 and under) having an abortion and why it is so important that they need to get parental consent before making this life long decision.
The most common conflicts that cause a woman to get an abortion are based on their own personal responsibilities. Sixteen percent of women, who get abortions, believe that their life would be changed too much to acquire a child. Twenty-one percent of expectant mothers feel that they are not ready for the responsibility to care for an adolescent. Few as twelve percent have complications with relationships or are unmarried. One perecent have been raped and/or incested. Twenty-one percent have financial disputes. Eight percent currently bare children and have all they wish for. Three percent have discovered that the baby in the womb has health issues. Four perecent of the abortions are other reasons. Lastly, the abortion pill used to minimize the fetus, does not work, therefore the woman receives an
An issue that has flared up in today’s society, abortion is a highly debated topic that has sparked some of the most violent discussions. The rapid growth in teenage pregnancy has only increased the amount of attention that has been drawn to abortion and whether it is ethical or not. While some say that a woman is in power of her own body and can make choices based on her best interest, some take much offense to that and demand that a baby is a baby no matter how small it is and that abortion is never okay. It is important to know going into this debate that to argue one side, one would have to be 100% consistent with that decision because of all of the grey areas that come up regarding abortion. With that being said, I still believe that a mother should take responsibility of the situation and recognize that, even though it is minuscule, a baby is a person the moment it begins to develop inside of her.
However, USA Today (2013) "About half of teens visiting family planning clinics went without a parent 's knowledge. They could likely get an abortion without telling their parents teens in particularly reserved households just might end up taking their chances.” The parents not being tell about their child health is dangerous to the young person own health and to that of the community, particularly other young people. Plan B One Step is not doing young people any justice by helping them keep their parents in the dark. The company seems to lose sight of the very reason we have an age of consent is to protect children.
Abortion is a very sensitive, yet popular, topic that is plaguing the United States. According to Merriam-Webster, abortion is, “A medical procedure used to end a pregnancy and cause the death of a fetus.” (n.d.). According to Griffin-Carlson &Mackin (1993), “In 1988, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that there were 1,371,285 abortions in the United States, 25% of which were obtained by women under 19. Researches at the National Center for Health Statistics estimated that of the 1.1 million pregnancies among teenagers in 1981, 40% ended in abortion, 13% in miscarriage, and 47% in live births (p. 1). Abortion is a sensitive topic because there are many individuals who believe that abortion is murder. On the other hand, there are others that believe that it is up to the mom to make the decision regarding the fetus, whether it is death or the continuation of life. The controversy surrounding this topic is vast, that it has even been taken to Congress, in hopes of making it illegal to receive/perform abortions. When a pregnant minor is thrown in the scenario, the arguments intensify. This paper will delve into the topic of whether minors should be required to receive parental consent for abortions.
Every underage girl going through an abortion faces struggles that come with the option of an abortion and the consent of a parent. Having a parent consent makes a difference in a situation like this. If minors had to have a parental consent, there would be a drop in legal abortions. The reason a parent consent should be needed is because when teenagers are young they don’t really understand what to do in big situations like this. Without the consent of a parent, an abortion can harm the mother in many ways. Parents know things about their medical history that the minor may have questions about. Injuries can occur during the proced...
"It's the hardest choice you'll make, but I know I made the right one when I placed my child in adoptive care" (Orr). There are a few options for pregnant teenagers regarding parenting. These include adoption and abortion. The majority of teens have not attained basic knowledge of adoption and the benefits it encompasses for the child and the mother. There is an abundance of useful information teens should be aware of before deciding parenting, abortion, and adoption. More teenagers who are expecting a child should choose adoption because it provides a more suitable lifestyle for the child, it's a positive alternative for couples unable to give birth to their own child, and it's beneficial for the mother and her future.
...ant teen should know the consequences and should be able to have an abortion if she chooses to.
Yes the health care facilities are trying to help minors with teen pregnancies and slow down the rate. According to New York Post journalists Linda Chavez recently wrote an article regarding the teen pregnancy rate. She said that even though the United States is still has the highest pregnancy rate the numbers dramatically dropped by 52 percent. Linda Chavez said, “In 2008, the last year for which in-depth data are available, nearly 750,000 young women under 20 became pregnant, including some 236,000 teenage girls ages 15 to 17” (Page 1). This shows how many teens were on birth control since the rate had dropped 52 percent. But no matter how much the rates have dropped it still isn’t right for minors to not get permission from their parents.
As we see in the world today many teens are becoming mothers before they finish high school or before they turn 18. Although some teens are on birth control already many are not because they are afraid to tell their parents which may lead to their parents thinking they are sexually active. Moreover, teens usually find themselves in a professional clinic trying to seek different options of birth control but they are derailed by having parental consent or notification. Many clinics have a policy were teen needs to have parental consent to receive birth control. Many parents feel that teens should be able to make the choice by themselves if they are having sex or just being careful. But the one question many parents are unable to agree upon is should teens be allowed to receive birth control without parental consent.
In America, one million teenagers get pregnant every year (National Abortion Federation, 2003). Of these pregnancies, 78% are unplanned because these teenagers start having sex at a very young age and are unaware of ways to prevent pregnancies. Thirty five percent of the pregnant teenagers chose to abort, as they fear that the consequences of the pregnancy might cause significant effects to their lives. The problems that come with teenage pregnancies include dropping out of school, receiving inadequate prenatal care, developing health problems, relying on public assistance to raise a child, and probably divorcing their partners. In most states, the law allows pregnant teenagers to take their babies for adoption without consulting their parents. The same laws allow the teenagers to have an abortion but require parental notification or consent before carrying out the procedure. These laws prove biased as they favor one resolution over the other, as they force some to bear babies they do not want by restricting their options.
Pregnancy is a wonderful thing, the moment a woman finds out that she is pregnant, she is filled with many different emotions, ranging from happiness, to ecstatic to even a little nervous. However, when that woman happens to be a teenage girl, there is a completely different range of emotions. Such as fear, excitement, and filled with many questions. Their life changes before their eyes the moment they see a positive pregnancy test. Statistics show that thousands of teenage girls will get pregnant by the age of 20. The effects of being pregnant at a young age, not only affects the teen mother, the father, but the family as well. In those thousands of teenage girls that get pregnant. Many choose to keep the baby, while others choose either adoption or abortion. The amount of life changing ‘adult’ decisions a teenager has to make in such a short time has many grueling effects on the decisions you make while pregnant. Getting pregnant at a young age puts a lot of emotional and physical stress on not only the teenage girl, but her family as well. The effects that a teenage pregnancy is similar to a roller coaster, you think you have hit the top, but you just
Through every choice in life, there is a decision that must follow. Abortion is a woman’s individual choice; therefore, must be a legal part in todays society. Individual rights have an outstanding role in the controversial topic, on whether abortion should become legal in the United States . The individual rights for abortion show rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. As well, women should be able to have the choice to choose to have an abortion for several important reasons. The right to make these decisions should lie in the hands of the “mother” to make decisions concerning their own to make decisions concerning their own bodies. In addition, women should be given the choice to have an abortion if they are too young and unable to take care their child financially or emotionally. Additionally, the right to have an abortion is if the pregnancy negatively affects the woman's or the baby's health. Without abortions as a choice for the “mother” to resort to while she is going through hardship on deciding whether to keep the baby or not, the endless possibilities could negatively influence the mother to put her and the baby in a dangerous positions.
The abortion decision is often made by minors or young adults, who don't have the maturity and life experiences to make good decisions.