Replies

And they didn't think about the fact that if a teenage girl feels she has no one to whom she can turn, she may take matters into her own hands - with lethal results. Here are your talking points on the counterproductive Teen Endangerment Act: * Government cannot mandate open family communication where it does not exist. Many young women in troubled families cannot tell their parents about a crisis pregnancy without fearing for their lives. In Idaho, a man shot and killed his 13-year-old daughter when she told him she was going to abort the fetus he "fathered." When a young woman cannot involve a parent about an abortion decision - because of incest or any other reason - government policy should encourage her to consult a trusted adult.

The last time I checked, this situation was illegal to begin with: If the girl would have gone to the authorities, she would have been removed from the custody of the man, before he killed her. Any court would have removed her from the household! It has nothing to do with her having to tell her father about an abortion: It has to do with statutory rape and incest. Talk about NOW trying to cloud the situation...

* Teenage girls with healthy parental relationships die as a result of mandatory parental involvement and notification laws. In 1988, 17-year-old Becky Bell of Indiana died after a "back alley" abortion because she could not obtain a safe, legal one without informing her parents - she didn't want to tell her parents she was pregnant for fear of disappointing them. Major medical associations including the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association oppose mandatory parental involvement laws precisely because of these dangers.

Is this the only case of someone dying from a "back alley abortion?" Having to go back 13 years? How many women have died from legal abortions?

* The bill will not encourage young women to consult their parents about an abortion decision. Studies show that teenagers talk to their parents about a crisis pregnancy at the same rate in states with and without parental involvement laws. If a girl decides she cannot talk to a parent, legislation like this will not change her mind. The bill would only prevent young women from seeking guidance from trusted adults, including religious counselors, medical providers and other adult family members.

It seems to me that NOW is trying to undermine the authority of parents here: How about this... If NOW gets their way, for anyone to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion, which is an invasive medical procedure, that person must first agree to take on all moral (yeah, as if) and financial responsibilities for that minor, until the age of 18, effectively becoming that minor's parent. If that person is either unwilling, or unable, then NOW must take full financial responsibility for that minor, until the age of 18.

Mark