Let’s deal with my title first. Just because a minor can’t get their ears pierced without parental notification doesn’t make it the bar we should set our standards. Perhaps making a minor wait until they are 18 to pierce their ears is silly. If you disagree with me on that point, fine. The law, as it stands, is on your side, but can we please stop holding this up as a serious example in the parental notification for abortion law?
As a parent I can see why parents would want to know if their daughter was getting an abortion, but I’d lay money that if my daughter wanted an abortion I wouldn’t be finding out about it from a phone call from a stranger at a clinic. And if I was then there are bigger problems than abortion/pregnancy within my family. Perhaps, those families should have to partake in mandatory family counseling? How dare I suggest such a thing! Right?
But I’m more than a parent. I’m a woman. More importantly I was a teenage girl. And when I travel back in time to those years this parental notification thing concerns me. First, the idea that a 16 year old would avail herself of the legal system to get an abortion is laughable. Won’t happen… unless there is an outside adult to guide her. Bet the “pro-lifers” would love that. So add another teenage mother to the statistics – which is really the point of this bill. Or we can add another backroom abortion, internet remedy to the pile. Because those are the choices this law places on the table.
But if you’re okay with the parental notification for abortion law, then why stop there? Why not parental notification for pregnancy? Pro-life parents can celebrate the upcoming birth by purchasing pre-natal vitamins and a manger, while pro-choice parents can decide whether they’ll keep the baby… or not. Hey, if this is about parental notification, let’s notify from the beginning. I’m not kidding. If a pregnant teen girl decides to keep her baby then her parents should be notified immediately so they can either support or overrule her decision. And if a parent decides that their daughter will have the baby, I’m sure the “pro-lifers” would be fine with that… exactly like they’d support the parent who insists on their daughter having an abortion. Oh, wait…
Starting to see where this law is rooted?
And, yet again, where are the men? Let’s start legislating them. Perhaps they should be left holding the baby. At the very least the parents of the father of the baby should have to be notified, as well. He should also have to appear in court with the mother of his child, and if he wants her to have the baby, despite her wishes, he – and his parents – must raise and provide financially for the child. No excuses.
I’m being very, very sarcastic with that last paragraph, but it does seem to me that – removing “pro-lifers” – one of the reasons the daughter’s parents are okay with this law is that the daughter’s parents are left footing the bill – which is a valid concern if you view this situation from the parents’ viewpoint, and not the teenage girls. That’s what’s also missing from this debate. The girl’s wishes… which she made pretty damn clear by seeking an abortion without having a heart-to-heart with her parents. But who cares what she wants. She’s a child – a child who probably has her ears pierced.