Posted on 02/26/2007 5:17:32 PM PST by wagglebee
BOISE, Idaho - A bill that would require unmarried girls under 18 in Idaho to get consent from their parents before getting an abortion has moved a step closer to becoming law.
The Senate voted 23-12 Monday for the measure that would require most girls to get written permission from one parent before the procedure could be performed. Girls who don't want to tell their parents can petition a judge to allow an abortion in cases of incest or abuse, a medical emergency or if the judge decides the girl is mature enough to decide on her own.
"We require parental consent for an aspirin or a bandage to be administered at school, yet she can go in and get an abortion with no consent whatsoever," said Sen. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian, who is sponsoring the bill. Fulcher said his measure is intended to make sure minors don't make such weighty decisions without the counsel of their families. Fulcher said he has heard no legal objections to his proposal.
A provision that requires a court-appointed guardian to report any crimes related to the pregnancy _ including sex between unmarried adults, which is illegal in Idaho _ and another that required a doctor to tell a girls' parents after performing a medical emergency abortion have been dropped from the bill. A judge in 2005 ruled both provisions to be unconstitutional.
The bill now moves to the House for discussion.
Some lawmakers still objected to the bill, saying it could put already-vulnerable young women in an even more difficult situation.
Petitioning a judge for an abortion is too complicated a process to expect a young woman to go through when she's probably already scared, said Sen. Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum.
"This law is unnecessary for good families, and it's ineffective for families that don't have that kind of support system," Stennett said.
Lobbyists for Planned Parenthood and the Idaho Women's Network have said they will continue to oppose the bill.
They don't want to run the risk that someone would be opposed to killing their grandchild.
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Parental Consent is the flipside of forced abortion like that girl in Italy. If a parent has absolute authority to say no, they have absolute authority to say yes if the reasoning is based on the immaturity of the girl.
Is that a bad thing?
Thanks.
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MARRIAGE -- NATURE AND VALIDITY OF MARRIAGE CONTRACT 32-202. PERSONS WHO MAY MARRY. Any unmarried male of the age of eighteen (18) years or older, and any unmarried female of the age of eighteen (18) years or older, and not otherwise disqualified, are capable of consenting to and consummating marriage. Provided that if the male party to the contract is under the age of eighteen (18) and not less than sixteen (16) years of age, or if the female party to the contract is under the age of eighteen (18) and not less than sixteen (16) years of age, the license shall not be issued except upon the consent in writing duly acknowledged and sworn to by the father, mother or guardian of any such person if there be either, and provided further, that no such license may be issued, if the male be under eighteen (18) years of age and the female under eighteen (18) years of age, unless each party to the contract submits to the county recorder his or her original birth certificate, or certified copy thereof or other proof of age acceptable to the county recorder. Provided further, that where the female is under the age of sixteen (16), or the male is under the age of sixteen (16), the license shall not issue except upon the consent in writing duly acknowledged or sworn to by the father, mother or guardian of such person if there be any such, and upon order of the court. Such order shall be secured upon petition of any interested party which petition shall show that the female minor under the age of sixteen (16), or the male minor under the age of sixteen (16), is physically and/or mentally so far developed as to assume full marital and parental duties, and/or that it is to the best interest of society that the marriage be permitted. A hearing shall be had on such petition forthwith or at such time and upon such notice as the court may designate. The judge shall secure from a physician his opinion as an expert as to whether said person is sufficiently developed mentally and physically to assume full marital duties. If said court is satisfied from the evidence that such person is capable of assuming full marital duties and/or that it is to the best interest of society, said court shall make an order to that effect, and a certified copy of said order shall be filed with the county recorder preliminary to the issuance of a marriage license for the marriage of such person and said order of the court shall be the authority for the county recorder to issue such license.
A bill that would require unmarried girls under 18 in Idaho to get consent from their parents
Get ready for the Planned Parenthood Abortion Shop And Wedding Chapel coming to a town near you. All girls over 10 years old served...
It amounts to forced abortion. I think forced abortion is a bad thing.
There are very few girls who could pull off a secret abortion (even with the help of an adult male abuser). However, if the doctrine of the immaturity of all girls under 18 stands, it would be more common for parents to force an abortion on a daughter. It happened in Italy.
I think abortion is a bad thing, forced or otherwise. I also think that parents being involved in their children's lives is a good thing. Not allowing their involvement in a medical procedure fraught with not a few risks, emotional and otherwise, is both at odds with other standards in our healthcare system and at odds with the idea of parents being able to raise their children in the manner they best see fit.
So, even with the risk of forced abortion which you posit, I will still support the idea of parental notification in the belief (and hope) that parents will be far better caretakers of their daughter's wellbeing than Planned Parenthood or the National Education Association.
Yes, it might be a complicated process for a young woman to go through. But surely, the Honorable Mr. Stennet would agree that these young ladies, having the advanced capability of being able to decide whether or not they should have an abortion (a truly weighty decision), should be able to manuever through some comparatively inconsequential bureaucratic red tape to achieve the correct outcome.
Such a perspective would make it important to investigate means to provide life support for the unborn, including possible legislation that requires any termination of pregnancy not done in the eight weeks of pregnancy to continue until the alive unborn may be delivered and sustained by existing science. When the ability to give life support to those alive unborn prior to the twenty fourth week age become feasible, the age of termination for the pregnancy may be moved also.
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