Abortion for Underage Children Should Require Parental Consent

In the United States, twenty six states allow minors, defined as children twelve and older, to consent to contraceptive services; Michigan allows some minors, such as those who are married or have previously been pregnant, to consent; four states have no standing laws or policy (“An Overview” 1-2). The contraceptive access also varies across the country. Some states require comprehensive sexual education and for teens to be able to access contraceptives. Some lean more towards abstinence only education in the hopes teens will steer away from sexual activities. There are also scattered clinics where teens can receive birth control. For many parents, this term conjures up images of teenage sex or pregnancy, which can cause them to ignore its

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

Teens should be able to get an abortion without parental consent because balancing school and taking care of a baby can be very challenging. According to the article”Tell parents of abortions”, the author states "Schools that support teenage girls through abortion only provide support during school hours. Who is supporting the girls after school?” (Hill). This evidence proves that not only can it be challenging to go to school and taking care of a child but the support systems for teen parents are

A 16-year-old girl visits a birth control clinic and asks to be put on the pill. Since she is a minor, the clinic doctor who writes the prescription for her notifies her parents of the action. As of the year 2016, there are only 26 states that allow minors to obtain contraceptives without parental consent. There are 20 states that allow certain minors to obtain contraceptives without parental consent and those include minors that are married or who have already been pregnant. Four states have no laws on parental consent (Gutimacher Institute, 2016). This ethical controversy leaves room for an open interruption of whether or not minors should need parental consent to gain access to birth control, to apply ethical reasoning to this controversy one must examine the ethical principles of utilitarianism, rights-based, duty-based, justice based, and virtue-based ethics.

In this paper, I argue that Roper can be reconciled with adult-like reproductive rights for pregnant minors. To do so, I will draw two useful distinctions. First, I distinguish between the psychological competencies that a minor draws upon when engaging in criminal conduct versus when deciding whether to abort or carry a pregnancy to term. Although minors are immature in ways that render them less culpable for their criminal behavior, they are mature in ways that render them capable of making autonomous decisions about their pregnancies, including the decision to abort. Second, I highlight the differences between the decision-making contexts at issue. While decisions to engage in criminal conduct are often made in circumstances that elicit impulsivity, emotional arousal, and social coercion, decisions to obtain an abortion are more generally made in circumstances that allow for unhurried, logical reflection. This more nuanced account of juvenile decision-making competencies and their relevance to particular decision-making contexts can provide the basis for a more coherent body of children’s rights law.

In today 's society, the rate of teen pregnancy is rapidly decreasing. This may be attributed to decrease in costs of contraception, costs and availability for abortion, and better sex education over time. “In 2014, a total of 249,078 babies were born to women aged 15–19 years, for a birth rate of 24.2 per 1,000 women in this age group.This is another historic low for U.S. teens and a drop of 9% from 2013. Birth rates fell 11% for women aged 15–17 years and 7% for women aged 18–19 years” ("About Teen Pregnancy"). Abortion is a highly debated topic today, for many wonder if the woman should have the right to choose. Those who choose to get an abortion are practically putting themselves on trial in today 's society. To understand why this is so, one must look at both sides of the abortion issue, and compare the facts. Abortion is an extremely controversial issue for many, and polarized, or split, into pro-life

Most minors voluntarily involve their parents in abortion cases and if they don’t involve their parents, it's usually because they wouldn't be cooperative; “Since "privacy" rights have been found to be fundamental and protected by the due process clause, it is plausible that these rights are also fundamental for purposes of equal protection clause analysis” (Wand). The Court has stated that minors are protected by the right to privacy, so minors should have the right as to whether or not to terminate her own pregnancy. In addition, government intrusion does not make family relations stronger and could just sway a woman’s decision. The Court supported this in 1976 during the case Planned Parenthood v. Danforth. In this case, Missouri legislators passed a law requiring abortion doctors to obtain a written statement of the mother’s consent that stated that “the consent was freely given and not the result of coercion” (“Planned Parenthood v. Danforth”). The Court upheld the written consent of women, however, it concluded that spousal and parental consent requirements amounted to an unconstitutional "veto power" over a decision which should be left to the "medical judgment of the pregnant woman's attending physician" according to Roe (“Planned Parenthood v. Danforth”).

In fact, most teenagers do turn to their parents for guidance. But the government cannot mandate healthy family communication where it does not already exist. Laws that restrict minor’s access to abortion by mandating parental involvement actually harm teens and families they mean to protect, by increasing illegal and self-induced abortions, family violence, suicide, later abortions, and the teenage birthrate. The real agenda behind laws enabling parents to veto their daughter’s abortion decisions by requiring parental consent or notification is to deprive your women access to abortion. Opponents of choice are seeking to use the issue of parental consent to paint the pro-choice position as extremist and anti-family. The true pro-family position is the pro-choice position.

Today, in every state, teenagers can get contraceptives to protect themselves against unwanted pregnancies even if they can’t talk about sex with their parents. However, some state and federal lawmakers want to take away the teens’ right to do that confidentially. They want to prevent teenagers from getting prescription birth control unless they first tell their parents. Many opponents argue that these proposals would rapidly turn back the clock on public health policy, and put teenagers at risk. After extensively researching the topic, I believe that teenage girls should have the ability to access prescription birth control without parental consent. With results of evidence based research, I hope to persuade you to also believe that requiring

Notification laws only notify the parent that their daughter undergo the abortion. The parent is allowed to informed, but just because they know, does not mean they will be able to prevent it (New).

Furthermore, after the parent have been informed, the law needs them to make formal consents stating why they think abortion is appropriate in such cases. However, if this minor cannot obtain the consent of the parent, then she will be required to obtain a judicial bypass from the court. The teenager will be advised and accompanied by a counsellor to the court of law. The judge will then scrutinize the evidence presented by the minor and judge whether the teen is old enough to reach such a decision and check if abortion is the only best option for her

Allowing teenagers to get contraceptives without parents’ permission encourages them to become sexually active. Teenagers do not become sexually active because they can get contraceptives. Young woman in the U.S. Have been sexually active for at least 22 months before they visit a family planning provider. 47 percent sexually active teenage girls said they would not get health services from clinics if they could not get contraceptives without parent’s permission. Teenage girls have the highest reported rates of chlamydia and other diseases. Close to 900,000 teenagers get pregnant each year. Four out of ten girls get pregnant at least once before they turn twenty. Teenage girls that do not use contraception has a 90 percent chance of getting pregnant within a year.

Other contraceptive methods are available to students including a pepo provera shot, which protects against pregnancy for up to 14 weeks, and the plan-B, or morning- after pill” (Rosenberg 1). This shows that in some situations, teenagers do have access to contraception, however it comes with the price of having to acquire parental approval. That fact only speaks for one school, in one town, in one country. Minors ' access to contraception varies in every state and every country. Some minors draw the lucky number when they land in a state where consent is not required and others are not able to truthfully say the same. In the article, “State Policies in Brief”, readers are informed that twenty-five states allow to minors to consent in one or more circumstances, four states have no policy at all, and twenty-one states and the District of Columbia allow all minors to consent for contraceptives. The circumstances needed to obtain contraception in the twenty-five states includes being married, being a parent, being pregnant or had ever been pregnant, being a high school graduate, or being in the position of facing a health hazard if she is not provided with contraceptive services. Does this effect the pregnancy rate? Without the ability to obtain contraceptives, do minors simply just not use them? In the article, “Fertility and Parental Consent for Minors to receive Contraception”, the author states, “The relative proportions of

Abortion is an abomination and a serious confliction in civilization today. This heated topic is one inflicted upon by many different thought processes, morals, and religions, making it extremely controversial, but most do not realize one’s life is truly at stake. Abortion signifies revoking someone the opportunity of life, for the sole reason that things are not in our favor (Ladock). Ladock states the most important factor of abortion: human life is involved and killing it would be a crime. The innocent child in the womb is called innocent for a reason, and taking away the life of someone without their permission is cruelty and unjust. Just because a parent may not be prepared to have the child, does not mean they should be

"Teen pregnancy in the United States: In 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15-19 years old, for a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000 women in this age group. This is another record for U.S. teens and a drop of 8% from 2014. Although reasons for the declines are not totally clear, evidence suggests these declines are due to more teens abstaining from sexual activity, and more teens who are sexually active using birth control than in previous years. Still, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations, and racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in teen birth rates persist (cdc.gov)." As teenagers (in the United States), we are peer pressured or tempted to try new things. Some teens tend to try out drugs, and alcohol. However, some are having unprotected sex in which, is leads to having babies. This is called, teenage pregnancy. This has caused the United States to create records based off of the statistics and facts given from, researchers across the United States. In order to help prevent teenage pregnancy in the United States, teenagers must understand why, having a baby now isn’t such a smart move on their part.