Parental Notification Bill Fails in Britain’s House of Commons

LifeSiteNews.com ^ | May 30, 2007 | Hilary White

[monomaniac]

LONDON, May 30, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A bill that would have recognized the right of parents to be informed when their daughter was getting an abortion has failed by a wide margin in the British House of Commons. Tory MP Angela Watkinson had proposed the bill, arguing that sex education only encourages children to have sexual relations and leaves them vulnerable. MPs voted by 159 to 87 against Watkinson’s bill.

In the name of ‘confidentiality,’ Department of Health rules keep parents in the dark about potentially dangerous abortions and contraceptives being made available to schoolgirls.

In the House, Watkinson argued that the approach of “sex information” and flooding schools with contraceptives was not working. Recent statistics show that Britain has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the developed world. “It’s time to try a different approach,” she said.

“All the indications are that many children are becoming sexually active well before they are either emotionally or physically mature,” Watkinson said.

“In education about the real risks involved and the likely outcomes, the advice to underage girls should be to abstain, to wait, to delay, to resist. Not to use contraception and believe they will not come to any harm. Parents need to be part of this process.”

Scotland released its abortion statistics this week showing record high levels of abortions among women and girls at school age. The NHS response was to increase condom and morning after pill availability to teens in schools.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

UK Mother Demands Parents be Informed of Minors' Abortion

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/oct/04101808.html

UK Judge Denies Parents Right to Know About Abortions For Their Underage Daughters

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jan/06012305.html

[GreenLanternCorps]

I’m guessing this was a Private Member’s Bill that the Labour Government did not want to pass. I wish stories like this would include a lot more detail than they do. This story tells us almost nothing about what actually happened in the House of Commons.