Explain Why Teenagers Should Not Be Allowed To Make Medical Choices Essay

As Albert Einstein once said, “The only source of knowledge is experience.” Seeing that I agree with Einstein, I stand in firm negation of today's resolution which states Resolved: Adolescents ought to have the right to make autonomous medical choices. For simplicity in the debate today, I would like to give the following definition from the Black’s Law Dictionary: Adolescence is the age which follows puberty and precedes the age of majority. It commences for males at 14, and for females at 12 year completed. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary says that the word ought is used to indicate a desirable or expected state. Autonomous, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, is having the freedom to act independently. The negative will support the value of paternalism, which as defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, is the interference of a state or an individual with another person, against their will, and defended or motivated by a claim that the person interfered with will be better off or protected from harm. The value of paternalism will be defended with the criterion of knowledge and experience.

According to Beauchamp and Childress, the principle of autonomy asserts that a capable and competent individual is free to determine, and to act in accordance with, a self-chosen plan (Beauchamp and Childress as cited in Keating and Smith, 2010). Determining a patient's competence is critical in striking a proper balance between respecting the autonomy of patients who are capable of making informed decisions and protecting those who are not fully capable (Appelbaum, 2007). Tagging children incompetent solely on the basis of their age and not involving them in decision making regarding their health is violation of children's human right. Obtaining consent from parents, rather than children, negates one of the most important principles of medical ethics, which is patient autonomy. Nurses are obligated to promote the health of children by embracing children's right. Nurses' duties which stem out of respect for autonomy include both duties to ensure children's self determination is respected and to refrain from practices that interfere with the children's right of decision making (CARNA,

The other is that minors shouldn’t be able to refuse medical treatment. People who favor this side say that minors aren’t mature enough to choose their treatment because they can’t think of the lasting effects that refusing treatment can cause. I do agree that there are some minors that make unintelligent choices and don’t think about the permanent effects of their actions. Though some minors do know the abiding effects of their choices and are mature enough to refuse medical treatments that they don’t want. This one of the reasons why I believe that minors should be able to choose their own medical treatment. Or if it goes into a trial the judge should talk to the minor to determine the minor’s level of cognitive

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

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.

The ethical issues involved in this topic include age limits, medical ethics, informed consent, and autonomy. It is unethical and immoral to allow adolescents to make their own medical decisions, because the judgment and capacity to make coherent decisions is unstable. However, adolescents should be involved and have a voice in the process of decision making, nonetheless I believe that the concluding medical decision should be made by the guardian and the doctor. An adolescent is between the ages of thirteen and nineteen. Society permits the legal determination of decision making for health care at the age of eighteen years. It is very important to consider developmental issues which will influence both reasoning and information processing, the brain not being fully developed causes a sense of a lost identity, and low self esteem challenges adolescents to develop a logical decision. An adolescent brain is not yet fully developed, the lack of grey matter and an

One reason why teenagers should have the right to confidential medical treatments is so they can deal with their issues as effectively and timely as possible. When minors present their medical problems to their physicians, some of them can be emergencies. These situations can appear in a circumstance such as the patient waiting so long to get a doctor’s opinion of their illness or injury that they are at risk of serious consequences if it is not treated immediately. In some cases, there is no time to receive parental consent or approval, and medical procedure must happen as soon as possible. The patient is most desperate for attention in emergency situations and they should be able to consent to procedures so that they can be performed quickly. “Emergency physicians shall

To begin with, teens should have the option to obtain birth control without any obstacles preventing them from doing so. This is because they may want to avoid further trusting issues arising because of the fact that they may be doing things in which the parent may not approve of. Opening up to a guardian which you know is gonna have a big impact on it will cause further consequences to the teen. When this happens, it then becomes a greater issue, because it creates a risk of unprotected sex and a resulting baby for which the teen may not be able to support. Not only that, but the fail attempt to use any birth control method may lead to transmitting STD’s to the adolescent. So, giving the minor the right to purchase birth control can decrease the risk of any of these from occurring.

Informed consent, by definition, requires the administering health care provider to disclose appropriate information to a competent patient, and allow that patient sufficient time to choose, voluntarily, whether to accept or refuse treatment (Appelbaum, 2007). For children, the law upholds an inability to provide their own informed consent as they lack the decisive ability inherent in consent (Appelbaum, 2007). Thereby, for children, a proxy, as determined by the state laws, chooses the course of treatment on their behalf (Appelbaum, 2007). Furthermore, for children of, an undesignated, reasonable age, a consultation about assent, or willingness for acceptance of treatment or care, should follow a guardian’s decision (Appelbaum, 2007). Responsibility

The health of young adults sets up the health of these people when they get older. If a child is unhealthy,

Teenagers account for less than 1% of all deaths that occur in the U.S. annually. The five leading causes of which are accidents, homicide, suicide, cancer and heart disease, excluding non-Hispanic black teens, whose leading cause of death is homicide; otherwise, the overall leading cause of teenage deaths is unintentional injuries. A report conducted by the CDC; National Vital Statistics Report, Vol.6, No. 5 2017, concluded for ages 10 through 24, the leading cause of teenage death was unintentional injuries at 39.6%. Of that percentage, approximately 75% of those fatalities were products of motor vehicle accidents. (see table 1) Remove motor vehicle accidents and a major contributor of teenage fatalities has been

While some speakers on the issue argue their side with the perspective of the students and teens in mind others focus on the parents and how their perspectives relate to the issue. Helium.com presently has a poll and debate occurring that allows the public to review multiple arguments from both sides of the debate, and then vote “Yes” or “No” on the issue of teens receiving birth control at school. Jeannie Kerns, a mother of seven children, says that it’s in the best interest of the teen, and their parents, to allow them to have the option to decide for themselves if they require “the pill”. She supports her argument by informing the reader, no matter how strongly parents push for their children to abstain from sex they’ll most likely engage in it anyway. She closes her argument by asking why parents wouldn’t

There are many legal and ethical situations that healthcare providers will be faced with when providing medical treatment to either a child or an elderly adult. While there is often much discussion regarding the elderly and do not resuscitate orders, there are often times when the decisions for health care of a child may be overlooked. Some of the legal issues that may be faced by healthcare professionals are informed consent, confidentiality, reproductive services and child abuse. Patients have the right to decide what is done to their own bodies, but for children under eighteen, their parents decide for them. A major issue faced by healthcare professionals is parental refusal for treatment. Healthcare providers will be faced with many conflicting ethical and legal situations regarding refusal of a minor’s healthcare and treatment. These issues

Today, sexually active teenagers can get contraceptives to protect themselves from unplanned pregnancies or sexual diseases without a parent’s permission. In some states federal lawmakers have taken away the ability for teens to protect themselves, they want to prevent sexually active teenagers from getting birth control and condoms unless they get parents permission. Preventing teens from getting contraceptives unless they tell a parent will not stop them from having sex. It will drive them away from the services they need to protect themselves, leading to higher rates of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases

The lack of exposing young people to this information has caused teens to not seek help.“Suicide is the second main reason for 13-19-year-old deaths.”