Posted on 09/01/2006 10:59:12 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Forms, which must be notarized, also warn teens of medical risks
AUSTIN — After 13 months of intense pressure from opposing factions, the state has adopted rules requiring written — and notarized — parental consent forms for girls under age 18 to get abortions.
The new forms span six pages, warn of medical risks and tout "women's right to know" brochures backed by abortion opponents, said those on opposite sides of the issue.
The rules would take effect 20 days later.
Patrick said the governor's office backed the final form approved late last week, which requires parents' written consent be notarized, an administrative rule not required by the consent law.
"It's been a long-fought battle for this victory," declared Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, which opposes abortion. "I believe we will see a drop in abortions and pregnancies for girls 17 years and younger."
Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, who sponsored the consent legislation, had complained that more than a year after its passage, the lack of an approved consent form might allow doctors and abortion clinics to skirt the law.
Abortion-rights advocates had opposed the consent form, as adopted, for several reasons, said Peggy Romberg, chief executive officer of the Women's Health and Family Planning Association in Austin.
"We didn't want them (the medical board) to exceed legislative authority," she said. "We also wanted any rules or regulation or form not to create a barrier to care that would delay services, because minors tend to deny they're pregnant."
Pojman said the rules adopted require signatures of the abortion provider, parent and minor girl on consent forms. Doctors also are required to use "due diligence," he added, to verify the age of women claiming to be 18 or older.
polly.hughes@chron.com
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Some girls who want abortions do so in a spirit of misdirected self-sacrifice: they're willing to endure the physical and spiritual repercussions of abortion precisely because they're "good girls" from "good families" who are reluctant to bring shame and pain to their parents.
This sort of conscientious, "good-girl" abortion-seeker has to realize that her parents would rather have a live grandbaby than a wounded daughter with a fatally-injured soul.
And "good-girls" who aren't yet pregnant will realize that they only way they can spare their parents shame and pain and heartache, is to say "no" to out-of-wedlock sexual intercourse.
I think it's a reasonable expectation that this law will result not only in less abortions, but significantly fewer adolescent pregnancies.
Let's hope this starts a momentum that cannot be stopped.
Exactly. Another small step towards sanity. We are winning the debate and must press even harder now. Courageous S. Dakota lead the way.
It's a good thing, for which we can thank God. Abortion is a horrible crime for which there is rarely (never!) any excuse.
Check out the bottom right column entry on this page for a PowerPoint review of this issue - http://menofhonorministry.org/Discipleship.htm
Thanks for the ping. I have a couple of questions that I couldn't find answers to in the article:
Do both parents have to sign this form? If so, I see a real potential problem in incest cases.
What is the percentage of abortions performed on women under 18 years of age, compared to women over 18?
Is there a judicial bypass option in this law?
Well, I'll be. A minor child needs parental consent before having a surgical procedure.
This SHOULD have been a no-brainer from day one. well, better late than never...
Good one.
I went looking for statistics regarding the number of abortions performed on women under the age of 18, but ran into a problem.
The statistics seem to be kept for ages under 15 years, and for women from 15-20. That makes it really difficult to tell what percentage of abortions are performed on women under 18, since 18 and 19 year olds are included in the second group.
I'll keep trying, but so far, no luck.
The next step is to require notification and approval by the pre-born child that is the target of the abortion.
"Fifty-two percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25: Women aged 20–24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and teenagers obtain 19%."
(Jones RK, Darroch JE and Henshaw SK, Patterns in the socioeconomic characteristics of women obtaining abortions in 2000–2001, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2002, 34.)
The teenager group includes an unknown percentage of 18 and 19-year-olds who are married. How many unmarried early-and-middle teens (under 18) are having abortions? I don't know.
If I had to make a ballpark estimate, I'd say it was 14% of 1.2 million, or 168,000 every year in the USA.
How many in Texas? I don't know.
And how do they protect themselves from feeling like a sexual spittoon?
Yeah, I found those stats, too. I understand why they're doing it in 5 year increments, but it makes it virtually impossible to get the number of minors having abortions.
I suspect that the 15,16,and 17 year olds in that 15-20 year old age group get fewer abortions than the 18 and 19 year olds. Probably fewer the younger they are. The 18 and 19 year olds probably skew the data and make it very hard to do an estimate.
The under 15 year old numbers make up less than 1 percent of the total of abortions. I'm guessing that 15 year olds aren't much higher. At 16 and 17, the percentage probably goes up a little, but I'm thinking that the bulk of the abortions in that five-year group is in the 18 and 19 year olds.
On second thought, you're right: it's a reasonable assumption that the bulk of abortions in the 15-up-to-20 age range are 18 and 19 year olds, either in college or entry-level employment. I'd revise my estimate upwards accordingly.
I mean downwards. Less in the early, under-18 category.
More in the 18-19 category.
I guess what I'm getting at here is that the percentage of abortions performed on under-18 girls is probably pretty low, overall.
I have no real problem with requiring parental notification or even consent for minors, as long as there is a judicial option for those few cases where incest is involved.
As you may know, I'm not a pro-lifer. I'm not a huge pro-choicer, either. I'm just trying to get some numbers inserted in the debate so we know what we're talking about.
And how do they protect themselves from feeling like a sexual spittoon?
Don't get me to lying! I'm guessing since many are pressured into sex, they do it to keep their boyfriends.
I'm interested: why would the child conceived by incest be an exception? (No to wrangle roughly with you about this, MM, but just to understand your way of thinking.)
My guess is that it might be "awkward" to get permission from the parent who caused the pregnancy.
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