Any girl who is under the age of eighteen should
be allowed to decide the fate of herself and the fate of her baby
because she is the one who has to carry the baby for nine months
and it does belong to her. If she wants to abort, she should be
able to and if she wants to carry out the pregnancy, she should
have that choice too. No one, including her parents should decide
for her. If she is mature enough to be having sex, than she is
mature enough to take matters into her own hands. She does not
need her mother and father doing it for her. That is the responsibility
that one takes when engaging in sexual activity, and that is also
the risk.
Since each girl is in charge of her own body, she should be able to decide what happens to it. Since the baby does belong to her and not her parents, she should not need their notification or consent like other states including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Maine. In the following states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Florida, Hawaii, and Illinois have no laws currently banning minors to tell their parents before they get an abortion. However though, all the states do not require parental consent if the minor decides to keep the baby.
By having these minors confront their parents
for an abortion puts the girls in a harder spot than they already
are. All that leads to is lies and deception because girls learn
to manipulate the system so they can go ahead with the abortion
if their parents deny it. It is already a hard choice for a person
to decide to have an abortion, but it is even a harder one when
that person has to ask for permission to do something to their
own body. Mentally, that is so upsetting to choose to have an
abortion, but then not being able to because the parents disagreed
is even harder. The girls are accessible to finding alternative
ways to complete the abortion so it's not like they will not be
able to do it even if their parents disagree. Since each body
belongs to its person, it should not be up to anyone else to decide
what happens to it.
I relate the situation of minors having to
ask their parents for permission to get an abortion to doctors
dealing with terminally ill patients who are under eighteen also.
If the patient is under eighteen, the parent can decide the fate,
even if the child wishes to end treatment. It is not fair to know
that you do not have full control over your body until you are
eighteen. Therefore the doctor is put in a terrible position because
he knows that the child wishes to end treatment, but the parents
are pushing for a miracle. Each person knows what is best for
his body and it is not fair to have someone decide what is right
just because they are not of the legal age to do it. If a person
can talk they are old enough to decide the fate of themselves
and anything they produce (i.e. a baby)
So another question is asked, what does age
have to do to this whole mess? How come eighteen was picked over
sixteen? How come at eighteen you are in full control of yourself
but at seventeen your parents have control over you? Who picked
these numbers and these laws? To begin with, any person once they
are born should decide what happens to them. If a minor wants
to end their life because their battle for cancer has been defeated,
then let them do what they want. Each person can only fight a
battle for themselves and when all hope gives up, so does the
body. If a minor wants to abort and the parents disagree, the
girl might not take good care of her body which will affect the
babies' outcome. She might not go to parenting classes, she might
smoke and drink or inflict harm on herself because she has been
controlled to have a baby that she does not want.
This mess of telling parents and asking for permission to do something with their own body can make someone feel like they are exploited. It creates more drama because what is happening in some rare cases is the girls are lying to their doctors, saying that sisters or aunts are their mother, and they are getting away with the abortion and then months or years later, the parents of the daughter find out, and then a lawsuit is brought upon the doctor. Girls who want abortions and can not go ahead with it will go to extreme measures to have one, even it if costs them their life. If someone wants something enough, a person will do anything to achieve it.
If the girl chooses to abort, she might be doing it for the baby's sake. Maybe she does not want the baby to have to grow up in the environment she is living in currently, or growing up with no father. The parents might think their child is being selfish by wanting to abort, but indeed, it could be an act of altruism. There are cases when the girl might feel like she will not be able to give her baby a good life because of the economic and social state she is in so she might choose abortion and her parents could not let her, thus making her be an unfit mother to a child. Its not fair for the baby and its not fair for the minor for someone to decide the fate of them.
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Teenage Pregnancy Statistics- There are some statistics taken from the last couple years about teenagers, age, and pregnancy. Information Table- This is a table showing more information on teenage pregnancy. Parenthood Information- This is some statistics on parenthood and teenagers. |
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Cases of Induced Abortions by Teenagers- This site is about different case studies of teenagers, and how abortion affected them. Teenagers, Abortion and Government Intrusion Laws- This is about different laws in different states. Emotional Effects- There are some facts on the emotional distress after an abortion. |
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Planned Parenthood- This organization is to help teenagers make the right decision and to help give education to people. Abortion Laws Home page- This page links to different cases, laws, terms and other material. |
