Should Minor Children Obtain Parental Permission to Give Birth?

[REP]

If a female under the age of 18 becomes pregnant and wishes to give birth, should she have her parents' permission to do so? Pregnancy and childbirth are much riskier than abortion (source: CDC, Williams Obstetrics) and have life-long consequences, especially if the baby is abandoned to strangers through adoption (source: Koop Report). If the baby is kept by the child, her parents will no doubt have to shoulder some of the expense and time needed to care for a child.

Since the decision of a minor child to give birth is a much greater medical risk as well as a financial burden to the parents of said minor child, should they not have a say in what their daughter chooses to do? Why or why not?

[boobooday]

1. Excellent Point

If she is old enough to get pregnant without her parent's permission, then she should be able to seek medical care without their permission too.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[Alenne]

2. If your child can come up with $300

get to an abortion clinic for a pregnancy test, get back to the clinic for the abortion all without you noticing she has missed at least one period you don't deserve to know. You are obviously not that involved in her life anyway.

[REP]

3. Missed Periods Are Easy To Hide

Just throw away the usual number of unused tampons each month. A parent who knows how bloody the tampon was before it was flushed away is a little too involved with their daughter.

But this isn't about whether or not the child can buy a home pregnancy test at the drugstore and use it at school or a friend's house - most children are pretty good at deceiving their parents about little details. Should the parents have a say in whether their daughter goes full term or not? Why?

Is a girl who is "too young" to decide not to carry to term "too young" to decide to give birth?

[Alenne]

5. once the daughter gets pregnant

it is her decision.

My daughter doesn't use tampons she uses pads. It is not just about her having a period it is how she acts when she has her period. My child is not just someone who lives in my house I know her. I would notice if she started being sneaky and acting differently.

[REP]

6. This Isn't About *Your* Daughter

But minor daughters in general. Should they have parental permission to give birth, since pregnancy and birth in young adolescents is extremely risky?

[Alenne]

10. Once the daughter gets pregnant it is her decision

[slinkerwink]

4. no, they shouldn't get parental permission to give birth

[DrWeird]

7. If they're old enough to decide what to do with their bodies...

they're old enough to decide what to do with their bodies.

Now they should feel morally obligated to tell their parents, but again that's their choice. Not some nutjob fundamentalist politician's.

[Fescue4u]

8. All medical procedures require consent of parent

If the person is a minor...unless of course it is a life threatening situation...In which case the hospital STILL asks for it.

There is no reason why a child undergoing a procedure as physically and emotionaly impacting should be treated differently, than a child undergoing heart surgery, breast implants or any other other millions of other medical procedures.

Its ludicrous to assert that parents should be excluded from their childs healthcare.

[REP]

9. Wrong

Emergency doctors do not wait until the parents can be contacted to give life-saving medical attention.

A pregnant child is considered an emancipated minor when in labor and does not need her parents' permission to obtain medical assistance durng labor and delivery.

Labor and delivery, even under the worst conditions, is not "impacting;" quite the opposite, in fact. If you mean what effect labor and delivery have on a minor, "impact" is not the right word. And as pointed out above, no child in labor needs parental permission to obtain medical assistance.

[Fescue4u]

11. re-read the above post

And get back to me. I already pointed out life threatening situations do not require consent (but consent IS generally asked for).

Not Impacting? C'mon, lets say serious here. Im a man but I've stood by my wife while she delivered 3 kids, not impacting my ass. And I've authorized about a dozen surgerys for my children since...including several that WERE life threatening.

And a child in labor is in a pseudo-emergency...i.e if Not treated then it becomes a life threatening situation.

Add it all up...

Unless the child is in a life threatening situation, parential consent is required of all medical procedures, unless its life threatening. (Oh wait..thats what my post above said..<g>)

IMO, its criminal to remove the parent from the equation all in the name of abortion rights.

[REP]

13. "Impact" IS Not a Verb

So you think a parent should be allowed to compel a minor child to give birth? Why?

As for the authorization, I see you have only your experiences to go by, and no real working knowledge of the law. That's okay - that's not important, since the real question is should a minor get parental consent before giving birth, since giving birth is dangerous and risky, and pregnancy itself is a risk, especially in young adolescents?

[Fescue4u]

14. See message below.

As I said, I misunderstoood the thread and imo, its a silly question.

Nonetheless, a parent should be involved in their childs healthcare.

"As for the authorization, I see you have only your experiences to go by, and no real working knowledge of the law"

Whatever, but you don't have a clue as to what you assert.

bye!

[Fescue4u]

12. Mea Culpa...It must be late

Ok, I didnt read the subject line well enough. For some reason I thought it was a "permission to get an ABORTION subject"

Ironically, while I stand by my responses as still accurate, IMO this is a bit of a silly conversation.

If a woman or girl is pregant, she is GOING to give birth unless something happens to stop it (abortion or miscarriage etc)

So they whole question of getting permission to do something thats gonna happen regardless is kinda silly.

Its like giving permission to have the sun come up, or giving permission for your child to enter puberty.

So in that regard, I regret even replying.