Proposition 4

[MystictheHedgehog]

Re: Proposition 4

And that's my argument. So what if a couple more people know about their daughters getting an abortion? We will have many, many more who get an unsafe abortion because of it and that's more dangerous than a parent who doesn't know about their child's abortion.

~Tsugomaru

You really make a great point there, I had yet to think of it that way. But, better yet, how to we prevent these back-alley unsafe abortions then? And we obviously can't trust the parents to make sure that they know where their 15 year old daughter is at all times, otherwise I doubt she would get pregnant in the first place....but back on subject.

Regardless, I think there will be many more that are informed, not just a few. But yes, I do think you will see an increase in unsafe abortions...like I said though, how do we prevent these things from going on? Likely, even if it was legal for parents to not be notified, I believe many abortion clinic employees may take it upon themselves to notify a parent anyway. And even if they don't, if I knocked up my girl and wanted an abortion, I would be pretty fearful of that. Assuming many think the same way I do, and get convinced a back-alley abortion is just as safe, then you wouldn't see a number of unsafe abortions drop too far. Just speculating though.

[devonin]

Re: Proposition 4

If you take something that kids and teens do that they don't want their parents to know about, and force them to make sure their parents know about it, they will absolutely go to greater lengths to try and find a way around it.

All kinds of people would be forging parental notes, getting friends to call in pretending to be parents etc etc. Hell, something as generally safe and non-life-changing as getting a piercing or tattoo generally requires parental permission under 18 and I know a TON of people who got them by faking permission, or finding somewhere that woudln't ask.

Clearly for something like an abortion I'd expect their standards of proof for parental notification, probably most places would require the parent to either be present the day of the procedure, or sign off on it so you coudln't just you know, race home and erase the answering machine message.

Primarily, I am just such a complete supporter of a woman's right to an abortion for any reason whatsoever for the first trimester, that the idea that one's parents could interfere with your right to such a procedure really rubs me the wrong way.

I guess the question is whether the notification has to happen before the procedure, or if the notification has to be accompanied by permission before the procedure.

If the notified parent has the legal ability to just say "No I don't give permission, you can't do it" then I cannot possibly support such a bill being voted on without input from the under-18 female population of the area.

If the notification has to happen regardless, but the parent would not have the ability to deny them the procedure, then I would have less of a problem having it simply put to the vote of those who are currently registered to vote.

The whole point of the distinction between voting and non-voting age is that under that age even if the law would effect you, you aren't necessarily considered ready to make an unbiased rational judgement (Not to say all voters or even most voters do that)

Consider some more ludicrous examples that would never actually come up. If you included children under 12 in a vote for a law that would make it mandatory to eat your vegetables, do you think such a law would actually pass?

If they restructured this proposition to refer only to minors under the age of say 14, then they would have a much stronger basis for demanding that parents ought to be notified. Under 18 is simply insufficiently 'too young' for me. There are 17 year olds in university, there are 16 year olds living on their own, self-supporting, and having to get mommy and daddy to sign off on their day-to-day lives is idiotic.

[tsugomaru]

Re: Proposition 4

That's why I made a reference to the Prohibition. They outlawed drinking, but people didn't stop drinking just because it was against the law. They went out of their way to produce alcohol and secretly sell it. Not only was the alcohol unsafe because there were no regulations, people drank more than they did without Prohibition.

~Tsugomaru