Teenage Abortion, should parental consent be required?

Your friend has a point, it is her body and she has the ultimate decision to make here. Of course, once she makes the decision there is no going back. As for your question, I don't think an under aged person should have to get consent to have an abortion. Unfortunately, many teens can't talk to their parents with an open and honest dialogue and all suffer because of it. It's unfortunate that she doesn't want to tell her boyfriend about the pregnancy. Do you think perhaps that may be the reason for her wanting an abortion in the first place? She may fear rejection from him more than her parents. If she tells her parents then surely the boyfriend will find out. If she only tells the boyfriend than either he'll stick with her or he won't. That's a 50/50 chance that she may not want to gamble with. Your friend is very young but she wouldn't be the first (or the last) to have a baby at 16 years old. But raising a baby isn't easy by any means. Especially, if your alone raising one.

Ok, I am in the states and here abortion is legal. If it is not legal then she is taking a huge risk. There could be complications and who would she turn to? I don't believe that a girl should have to have parental consent to have an abortion but I do believe the parents should be notified. I have a 15 yr old and I would be furious ....beyond furious if I ever found out someone gave her an abortion without my knowledge. As for my daughter fearing telling me that she was pregnant....I'm sure that she would be afraid. I would not be happy at all. I don't know how I'd react but I'm sure it would not be a pleasant moment for us. Still, I love my daughter with my entire being. I would calm down. I would think rational and I would talk to her at length about options and in the end...I would back her on whatever choice she made whether I agreed or not. Your friend needs to talk to her parents. They may be upset but they will guide her to do what is right. I doubt they will kick her out...most parents don't do that. She will have to deal with their shock and their anger at first...it is part of it and she'll get thru it.

Pregnancy without marriage is considered a shame in our culture. Most of such girls will chose abortion to end the issue. If there are complicated procedures, and high expenses intailed, the best time might be lost. To best protect their future, and protect them, designated medical cares are provided without revealing their privacy. That is what i understand the practice in my city. However, being a qualified mother, she should have noticed, and if yes, show the best good will and consideration to help her daughter overcome the challenge, and encourage her to resume a healthy style of living after the setbacks.

I don't think that parental consent should be required. It's a good idea to let her parents know about her situation under normal circumstances, but making that a legal requirement would be a bad idea for the reasons that you stated. And no, her parents don't have a right to decide what happens to her body. I think she should take their opinions into account, but she should have the final say.

I guess my first question would be how far along is she? I don't think you can have an abortion past 14 weeks or so I think. And the further along she is the more likely there are to be complications. The one thing she doesn't want to do is go have the abortion and them not have someone around in case she starts bleeding too much- she could die.

Parental consent laws function only to aid child abuse. Why would a young women want to keep her decision from her parents? Because she has a reasonable fear of her parents' reaction. My question to all those who support the idea of requiring parental consent for abortion: Do you also think that a parent should be able to force thier daughter to abort if she wants to remain pregnant?

I really cant understand why do we have this doubt in mind as to whether parental consent is required! Of course its required, not to undermine her but to guide her better in future so that she doesn’t get into the same mess again. And regarding her right…it’s the result of uncensored crap floating all around about celebrity relatives (Britney Spear’s sister, Sarah Palin’s daughter) getting pregnant young and claiming its all about their own body and idiotically smug parents with asinine smiles plastered on their faces, endorsing the ‘decision and maturity’ of their daughters! I really fail to understand what is there to be so proud about a daughter getting pregnant at 16 and giving birth! Its OK if she’s done it and she’ gotten pregnant…best would have been to hand out the pills and the next best of course is to go for abortion instead of dishing out wrong role models for impressionable teenagers! And here this girl doesn’t want to give birth…that’s OK too, I only hope her parents would take more interest in her and guide her to a better future after getting the abortion done by a good doctor.

Here in the US, I've heard numerous accounts of babies being born at prom or graduation and then being put in a dumpster to die. All because the pregnant teen could not tell her parents that she had gotten pregnant. I believe that contraception should be taught in school. I think that abortion, adoption, and teen parenting should be taught. I, I believe, above all else, that a child who is in trouble should have a legal and safe means to not have to carry the pregnancy to term. Having said that, I wish abortion would be unnecessary. It's not. Birth control fails and parents still can't see reality. Abstinence education does not work. Sexuality education does. We need to teach our kids that their bodies are their own and they have choices. And if the worst happens, we must be opened for our children to talk to and to seek guidance from. The short answer is that parental consent should not be required for a young woman who is unintentionally pregnant.

She needs to tell them! Ordinarily, her parents would not deserve a say because it is her baby, but because she is a minor, the parents MUST know! Look at it this way. What will they do when they actually find out? Wouldn't they be harder on her than if she told them? Also, the father has a right to know he impregnated her and he has a right to have an equal share in the decision. She has no right to kill his child without his permission. Personally I don't believe abortion should be legal except in extreme cases such as rape or life threatening health risks. However, if she is going to do so, as a minor her parents have a right to know, as does the baby's father. If her parents really would kick out a minor child, then they are heartless horrible parents anyway. No matter what the circumstances, I wouldn't kick my own kid out of the house unti l they were 18. Anything less is bad parenting!

First of all if she has been sexually active at such tender age she should have taken some precautions,but she did not and now your friend bearing the consequences.I think 16 years is too young to get pregnant and give birth because she might be studying and looking forward to her career building and one wrong decision can ruin her life.Well she knows her parents well and thinks that they will go mad if she tells the truth to them ,then it is all right to get the child aborted because she is not mentally and physically capable of nurturing the child and since she is not married i think it is a wise decision to abort.

It's a rough choice, but I think the parental consent should be required. You can't get a piercing or tattoo without your parents there, but you can terminate a pregnancy? I think a life is a much bigger decision than something small like getting your ears pierced. I also don't think, at 16, you are really mentally capable of making life changing decisions like that. What about the father of the baby? Does he know? What are his feelings? Abortion is a really touchy subject for everyone, but personally (Even though I am female) I hate that the father isn't given any rights to the baby's life. I have known people who have wanted to have full custody of a baby, without child support or anything from the mother, but she terminates anyway. Off-subject, I'm sorry, but I really don't agree with the way the laws work.

All of us know that it is better to tell parents of this kind affair. But for the person involved it is really difficult. She must want to keep it as a secret even to their parent. If relationship between parents and children is just like frinds, the children may ask them for help.

I really feel that if the girl is under the age of 18 that it should be required to have parental consent for an abortion. I think that anyone younger than 18 is not mature enough to be able to make a decision about abortion without some help from someone much older and more mature such as a parent or legal guardian. If the only fear is their parents finding out they are secually active, that is not a reason to end a unborn childs life. Just a thought...

This is always a tough topic. I dont think that parental consent should be required if the child is 16. There are times were abuse is going on in the family and a family member could be the father of the child, a young woman could have been assualted and a pregancy occurs etc.. This could very well be someones reasons for not wanting to get there parents involved. The reasons for not having parental consent outweigh the reasons why to have it. I pray for the girl that is in this situation.

Your friend is sixteen years old so she should think carefully about making the right choice. If she does have an abortion she might be sad afterwards and her parents might pick up on that. If they find out she has had an abortion without their knowledge that would be awfully shocking for them. It sounds like your friend finds her pregnancy a shock and she wants to turn back the clock. She won't be able to do that and neatly brush all problems underneath the carpet. She could have relief and a secret or she could discuss her options with her partner. He might be supportive to her and help her tell her parents. If told and her parents throw her out of the house could she live elsewhere? Good luck to her.

I don't thin parental consent should be required to begin with. There must be a reason why a child is sexually active without contraception to begin with how would it benefit if the parental consent is required. If there were better communication among the family, it is most likely that a situation would be prevented to begin with (unless she was raped). Since legal abortion doesn't required parent consent, kids can be more comfortable going there instead of going to the illegal abortions. Best wishes to your friend and I hope she finds the support she needs.