My dad, recently, had to give permission for the doctor to run some test on him... I think it was an MRI.
An adult must give consent for particular medical procedures.
An abortion is, ultimately, a potentially life-threatening procedure and should then be performed with consent by an adult... whatever "adult" means in your neck of the woods (yeah, I know you're in my neck, blackout... and I know giving birth is also a potentially life-threatening procedure).
That's just it. Informed consent requires an adult. A teenager is a child, in the eyes of the law, so the parent/caregiver is the one that gives consent.
It's the same thing, if the child requires an MRI, chemotherapy, biopsy, tonsil removal, etc, etc, etc...
Of course, this brings up situations where the teen wants to abort, but the parent is morally against abortion, so refuses to give consent... where has anyone ever heard of a parent being morally against tonsil removal?
I don't know how to sort these out... Perhaps some counseling of the parent could steer him/her towards meeting with their own child's desire not to have a baby, but it's far from guaranteed.
On the other hand, if teen abortion is allowed without any parental consent... what is foreseeable? More reckless behaviors on an already reckless enough demographic?
Do we, as a society, want out kids to have sex and abort without adult supervision/consent? The first part is already happening, I guess...
An adult must give consent for particular medical procedures.
An abortion is, ultimately, a potentially life-threatening procedure and should then be performed with consent by an adult... whatever "adult" means in your neck of the woods (yeah, I know you're in my neck, blackout... and I know giving birth is also a potentially life-threatening procedure).
That's just it. Informed consent requires an adult. A teenager is a child, in the eyes of the law, so the parent/caregiver is the one that gives consent.
It's the same thing, if the child requires an MRI, chemotherapy, biopsy, tonsil removal, etc, etc, etc...
Of course, this brings up situations where the teen wants to abort, but the parent is morally against abortion, so refuses to give consent... where has anyone ever heard of a parent being morally against tonsil removal?
I don't know how to sort these out... Perhaps some counseling of the parent could steer him/her towards meeting with their own child's desire not to have a baby, but it's far from guaranteed.
On the other hand, if teen abortion is allowed without any parental consent... what is foreseeable? More reckless behaviors on an already reckless enough demographic?
Do we, as a society, want out kids to have sex and abort without adult supervision/consent? The first part is already happening, I guess...
