Parental
Notification Before Abortion
A Position Paper of the Florida Catholic Conference
Florida's
public policy should assure parents the right to protect their children.
Parental notification laws have been shown to dramatically
decrease both teen abortion rates and teen birth rates in states
where these laws have been enacted. Parental notification laws protect
girls from continued sexual abuse and impregnation by requiring the
involvement of parents, or the court in circumstances where the parent is
the abuser. Current public policy protects abusers.
Distinguishing Parental
Consent and Parental Notification: In 1988, the Florida
legislature passed a parental consent bill. The law was enjoined, and
after winding its way through the court system, the Florida Supreme Court
struck the law (1989, In re T.W. a Minor). It held that a minor
child's decision to have an abortion was guaranteed under the
right-to-privacy provision of Florida's Constitution. Separately, the
Florida court questioned the judicial by-pass portion of the law. In 1994
the U.S. Supreme Court found constitutional a parental consent law in
Hodgson v. Minnesota and reaffirmed the judicial by-pass provisions
established in Bellotti v. Baird. Currently, 37 states require
parental consent or parental notification before a minor may obtain an
abortion. While impossible to predict precisely the Florida court ruling
on notification,
many attorneys feel it would withstand attack, and the benefits to family
preservation and public health are worthy of the test. Florida's public
policy should assure parents the right to protect their children.
Currently, three states with Constitutional right to privacy provisions
have parental consent statutes.
Parents' knowledge at a time of crisis is in the best interest of the
child. This protects the constitutional rights of parents to rear
children who are members of their household. It fosters family unity and
preserves the family as a viable social unit, while protecting children
from their lack of experience. The question is not simply maturity, it is
also one of responsibility. As long as a teenager is not emancipated, her
parents are responsible for her upbringing and medical care. When a teen
is injured by abortion, the parent gets the bill for the follow-up care,
not to mention the anguish of healing their daughter's psychological
scars. If doctors can exclude parents from major events in their minor
daughter's lives which may have long-term consequences, the job of
parenting will be much more difficult. Abortion is significant surgery.
It involves innocent life, and is irreversible. Parents need to know when
surgery is performed on their daughters, so the parent can watch for
physical and mental complications, such as infection and depression. Both
of these can be life-threatening. Teens have experienced serious
complications and death from
legal
abortion in Florida. Psychologist Catherine Barnard demonstrated in an
in-depth 1990 study that no fewer than 19 percent of women who have had
abortions suffer from "diagnosable post-traumatic stress disorder" which
can severely limit a person's ability to engage in normal relationships
and work. The doctor, no matter how compassionate, is not responsible for
the mental health of the young patient. Her parents are.
Parents are more likely to be aware of any pre-existing medical
conditions. Because 80 percent of abortions on teenagers occur in
abortion clinics, a girl is unlikely to have the benefit of conferring
with a family physician about her decision. Parents are more likely to
ensure follow-up after surgery since many teens (and pre-teens) are not
even old enough to drive. In Florida abortions have been performed on
children as young as age 10.
Parental involvement legislation provides protection for cases where
a child states she has been abused or neglected. This "judicial by-pass"
of parental notification protects girls from continued sexual abuse and
impregnation by requiring the involvement of parents, or the court in
circumstances where the parent is the abuser. Teenagers often lack the
ability to make fully informed choices that take into account both
immediate and long-range consequences. The capacity for a teenager to
become pregnant does not guarantee the capacity for mature judgement
concerning the wisdom of an abortion. Teens are also more susceptible to
pressure from their boyfriends and peers and need the guidance of an adult
who cares most about their well being, not the feeling of their
boyfriend or their peers. To anyone with teenage children, this is not
surprising news. Parental involvement is needed to give the minor some
perspective.
Parental involvement laws decrease teen birth rates, teen abortion
rates, and teen pregnancy rates and restore the rights of parents to raise
and protect their daughters. Government should not interfere with the
rights and responsibilities of loving parents, particularly in sensitive
matters dealing with human sexuality and the transmission of human life.
Government should protect the role of loving and supportive parents, and
make it possible to "judicially" by-pass the parental rights of those who
abuse their trust. Current policy does just the opposite: Pushing
parents out of the situation, and protecting abusers.
