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The Illinois' Medical Disciplinary Board voted this morning to not extend the grace period set on the long-debated abortion notification law that was set to go into effect earlier this week, meaning the law was put into effect immediately. The law requires physicians to notify the parents/guardians of girls 17 years or younger who seek an abortion. [CBS 2]
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So father/guardian rapes girl, girl want's to have an abortion and father/guardian gets notified, I guess that's called justice in America. Nice to see NOW protesting in the streets. Well I guess they do their best work at cocktail parties of elected officials. But then again, I guess its not their daughters
Blah blah blah. Please stop the extremist fear-mongering. Most teen pregnacies are not caused by parental rape, which I'd bet is very, very rare.
In any event, consent of the parent is never necessary, and parental notification is not necessary in the case of rape or medical emergency. The law permits a judge to exempt a girl from notification as well. (I think Chicagoist put up the link to the ACLU's website on this procedure...I guess it's no secret on which side the editors stand?)
I'd also argue that it is entirely possible to support a woman's right to abortion and support this law.
Ugh. I remember sitting next to a a young girl and her mother in a OB-GYN office. The girl was bawling and the mother was clearly angry and kept hissing at her "If you're knocked up you're going to KEEP it and TAKE CARE OF IT! That will show you responsibility!"
Because, you know, forcing your underage girls to bear and keep babies they don't want is a FINE way to teach them responsibility!
Does this law also include mandatory arrest and jailtime for the males that are knocking up these 12-17 year old girls? Because in most cases it's guys 18+ that are doing the deed, and they should NOT get a pass.
This law would not have affected the mother and daughter you saw, as the mother obviously had been notified. The law does not require permission of the parent, simply notification. Had the girl made the decision, she could have proceeded with the abortion.
As for your other point, in the event of consensual sex, the males involved are, in fact, held responsible, and are obligated to pay child support. It doesn't do anybody any good, though, to arrest an 18-year-old for having consensual sex with a 16-year-old for a sex crime, as you are severely hindering that 18-year-old's ability to support his child.
They have to notify them BEFORE they have the procedure done; do you honestly think that pro-lifers and holy-rollers will let their daughters go thru with it once notified?
When I was in HS, I saw a lot of girls get pregnant. 80% of the time, the male involved was 21+. In fact, in a lot of the cases the younger the girl, the older the father. They didn't help to take care of the children either. >.> Sorry, but someone over the age of 21 should be charged because it's obvious at that point what they are doing is a CRIME.
If the young women involved are willing to defy their holy roller parents enough to have sex, then they should be willing to defy their holy roller parents enough to have an abortion. But as I said yesterday, it is a parent's right and responsibility to know about their child's health.
As for your other assertion, I don't have the statistics for who, exactly, is impregnating young women, but I stand by my statement that it is a bad idea to prosecute a father if the sex is consensual, and if the young woman is not absurdly young ... say, under 16. Once you charge a man with a sex crime, you are permanently eliminating any chance he has at holding a job, and thus any chance he ever has of contributing anything to the wellbeing of his child. I say take the route of enforcing support. The state of Illinois is fairly decent at pursuing that route.
If the young women involved are willing to defy their holy roller parents enough to have sex, then they should be willing to defy their holy roller parents enough to have an abortion. But as I said yesterday, it is a parent's right and responsibility to know about their child's health.
I agree with you, but that sounds good on paper. In reality, it's a hell of a lot harder when you're living under their roof and still dependent. And there's a lot of parents who will throw the girl out of the house (or worse) upn hearing this sort of news.
The age of consent in IL is 17, and while I agree with you that a guy who is 19 maybe shouldn't be charged if he's dating a 16 year old, as I mentioned before there's a lot of old goats out here knocking up teen girls, and that situation needs to be dealt with. And speaking from personal experience, as a young teen I had to dodge advances from men that ran the gambit from college-age to creeps my dad's age--in short, dudes that knew better. I'm sure I'm not alone with that experience either.
Just out of curiosity, have you ever known anyone in this situation?
I'm just glad this will give some of the more passionate and holy pro-lifers more free time. They can devote it to volunteering to help single moms, or adopting or volunteering to help babies born to people who are poor or people who didn't want them.
Ha ha, just kidding, I'm sure they'd still rather stand outside clinics, judging women they don't know, screaming at them, etc. Lamb of God.
Their "concern" for the children ends in utero; once born, they could give a good damn.
That's a bullshit generalization. I and many other pro-lifers care about all children.