Schools Helping Kids Get Secret Abortions?

[Coito ergo sum]

Do you really believe that at age 16 the parents still have the right to decide upon medical procedures of such profound importance. What if the parents oppose abortion and had the right to force the young lady to have a baby against her wishes? Does that respect her right to sovereignity over her body and life? When it comes to sex and abortion - once the body is old enough to conceive, the "child" (which I wouldn't actually call a 16 year old) needs to have rights into decisions made about her body. Of course, guidance and support are required in the matter, but if she doesn't feel like she can trust her parents, than a counsellor is the next best thing.

Is it statutory rape if both parties are underage? If she was 16 at the time, it wouldn't have been stat rape her, so I don't actually think it is relevant to this case (though in general perhaps it can be).

Why would parents have input into medical procedures that are unimportant, but not the important ones?

I haven't suggested the parents should be permitted to force anyone to have a baby. I'm talking about the conduct of some idiot school counselor to affirmatively cover up the action from the parents.

No 16 year old wants their parents to know they got knocked up. That doesn't mean the parents don't have a right to know. And, a school counselor is generally an incompetent moron. They just ask the kid if she feels comfortable talking to mom and dad, and if she says not, then poof - go ahead and let's keep it on the down-low.

Is it statutory rape if both parties are underage? In California, yes. In most places, a near age exception to the rule keeps it from being statutory rape. And, the article refers to 13 and 14 year olds getting pregnant and specifically stated that one of the issues was girls not wanting the guys who knocked them up getting prosecuted. So, the counselor helps cover it up. Affirmatively covering up a felony is generally itself a serious offense.

[Gallstones]

I don't think anyone should have a "right" to force anyone to carry a fetus to term.
Parents shouldn't have a right to deny their children necessary medical treatment for anything.

Now maybe the parents should be informed, but it should never be their decision, unless the daughter is intellectually handicapped to such extent that she can not make informed decisions on her own behalf.

[Feck]

You cannot expect any service that is meant to be confidential to then go and break that .We do not know what the parents are like ,what the girl is like or any of the circumstances . All that we know is the girl thought her parents would disown her .

[cowiz]

A few years ago I helped a friend get a secret abortion - no questions asked. It's what she said she wanted and I gave her lodgings and support as she did not want anyone to know.

[Bella Fortuna]

A few years ago I helped a friend get a secret abortion - no questions asked. It's what she said she wanted and I gave her lodgings and support as she did not want anyone to know.

I did the same for a friend of mine some 20 years ago. She was under 18 at the time.

[cowiz]

A few years ago I helped a friend get a secret abortion - no questions asked. It's what she said she wanted and I gave her lodgings and support as she did not want anyone to know.

I did the same for a friend of mine some 20 years ago. She was under 18 at the time.

She was a little older than that, but very conscious of being judged. It's been our secret til this day (and still is).

[redunderthebed]

She is 16 almost an adult what she does with her body is her business.....i must admit this is strange behaviour for a counsellor i remember one counsellor at my old school going behind the girls back and telling her parents that she is pregnant.

Oh and CES i know you like the moral outrage angle just like that paper.

If that protection disappeared, you can pretty well guarantee the young person won't tell the counsellor a thing – particularly the thing you need them to talk about."

That applies to anyone who sees a counsellor unless they are talking about hurting themselves or others. So that girl is just exercising her rights that apply to anyone. I know that i've told counsellors things that i would not tell my parent ever because of the repercussions etc so i can sympathise with that poor girl.

[Tero]

I would make a lousy lawyer. I have such simple rules. Pregnant female is fully authorized in this matter. If she is 15, I would let her decide about piercings too.

[maiforpeace]

Frankly I think it's those parents who are the ones who failed their child and are looking for someone else to blame, in this case the counselor. They are in denial if don't think their child could be having sex after a certain age, and knowing this they would have ensured their child has been educated sufficiently about sex and all the ramifications, and would have enough trust in them to know they are capable of making an intelligent and informed decision about their own body.

I had a open dialogue with my parents about sex, and they counseled me in great detail about practicing safe and responsible sex, birth control, and my alternatives if my birth control failed and I got pregnant. I made the decision, along with my boyfriend to have an abortion at 17...having already had the conversation with my parents, I felt confident about it being an intelligent and informed decision. To this day I have never regretted it.

[Svartalf]

Preliminary question : How reliable is this report in the first place?

[Svartalf]

If you had a daughter and she got pregnant, and the school personnel saw fit to disregard your parental rights (and responsibilities) you might be livid as well.

What rights? And how do these rights override someone's rights to confidential medical help?

The article discusses how school officials hushed it up out of fear the parents might want statutory rape prosecuted. I raised an eyebrow at that, because it sounds like being an accessory after the fact.

No - it says "girls sometimes did not want to tell their parents for fear they would react badly or demand prosecutions for statutory rape" i.e. they might be protecting their boyfriends.

Technically, as long as the child is a minor, it has no right and it is your prerogative (and actual duty) to review any such major thing as elective surgery (and yes "elective surgery" starts with things as mundane as getting ears pierced). A minor has no confidential rights toward its legal guardian.

As for the girl protecting the BF, I have little to say since laws concerning "statutory rape" (or whatever terms are used to cover carnal congress with a minor when said minor is freely consenting) are usually broken, whatever the country.

[Santa_Claus]

In the UK you can get a GCSE in putting a Condom on.

FACT.

[Svartalf]

Do you really believe that at age 16 the parents still have the right to decide upon medical procedures of such profound importance. What if the parents oppose abortion and had the right to force the young lady to have a baby against her wishes? Does that respect her right to sovereignity over her body and life? When it comes to sex and abortion - once the body is old enough to conceive, the "child" (which I wouldn't actually call a 16 year old) needs to have rights into decisions made about her body. Of course, guidance and support are required in the matter, but if she doesn't feel like she can trust her parents, than a counsellor is the next best thing.

Is it statutory rape if both parties are underage? If she was 16 at the time, it wouldn't have been stat rape her, so I don't actually think it is relevant to this case (though in general perhaps it can be).

Actually, yes. The girl, of course, can deny this, but that kind of case is when emancipation of the minor is called for, usually followed at once by booting her out of the parental home.

Seriously, either she's a minor, and she lives with it, or she wants to be a full adult, and then she stops expecting to be provided for.
Being provided for and under the legal protection of a legal guardian, but cherry picking things that you don't want them to have a know, or say in, is what the expression "have your cake and eat it too" was coined for.

[Feck]

In the UK you can get a GCSE in putting a Condom on.

FACT.

It helps keep the bus seats clean so it's a good idea .

[Geoff]

In sexual terms, a 16 year old is no longer a child. If they can choose whether or not to have sex, they can also choose whether or not to abort.