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October 24, 2006
No on Prop 85!
I really hope that all my California-based readers are planning to vote against Prop 85. It amends California's constitution to mandate a waiting period and parental approval for teenagers' abortions - even if the parents are abusive or if it was her father who got her pregnant. Sure, there's an option for the girl to visit a judge and get an exception - but anybody who knows how overworked the judicial system here is knows that's not a good option
More importantly: look at who's for 85 vs. who's against it. Evangelical, right-wing, pro-forced birth organizations that want to get rid of abortion entirely are for 85; doctors, the ACLU, NOW, and medical organizations are against it.
Planned Parenthood has put together a great ad against 85 and needs donations to get it on the air. I gave $15. What can you give? See the ad and donate
File under: Political Schtuff
Posted by Ealasaid at October 24, 2006 02:25 PM
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Comments
hmmmm, PA has that law too. On one hand I think its good that parents are involved, but I'm not naive enough to think that all parents are wonderful people who are not going to be abusive about this. however we don't have any laws against contraception (birth control pills, condoms, and other non-invasive forms of birth control). PA has made the distiction (the right one in my opinion) that abortion is not a form of birth control.
It's a tough question, do underage teenagers have the right to make these kinds of decsions. On one hand I'd say no. Most teenagers don't have the maturity to think far enough into the future to make these big descions. But then again there are many well adjusted teenagers that can.
The fact remains no one has the right to tell you what to do with your body. Not a single person. All drug laws are aimed at possesion and operation of vehicals. Thusly it's not against to have drugs in your system, unless you have broken a contingent law, such as a motor vehical accident.
So should teenagers have the right to abortion without parental consent? Saying no just opens the door to too many other invassive laws. Not to mention the right to privacey as abortion is already protected under, as is many underagers rights. All in all it's just a bad idea. I'd rather it didn't pass.
Posted by: keith at October 25, 2006 06:54 AM
Didn't we vote this down in the last election?
Posted by: Alex Summers at October 25, 2006 09:19 AM
Alex: Yep, we sure did. Guess they geot enough signatures to get it back on the ballot. Grr.
Keith: Do underage teens have the right to make these decisions? That's a hard call, I suppose. The thing is, if you've got an underaged girl who's pregnant and afraid to go to her parents about it, you've got a messy situation that the government can't fix with a blanket law. Period. Girls who are pregnant and afraid to tell their parents will wait until it's too late for an easy abortion, or will seek potentially secret abortions, try to self medicate with potentially fatal results, etc. This law actively endangers teens in this situation by saying "you can't have a safe abortion unless you talk to your parents."
Being a teen in America is really goddamn hard. On the one hand, if you do something wrong you can be tried as an adult. But your actions can still be regulated as though you're a child.
My attitude is, if teens can be allowed to keep the pregnancy without parental consent, they should be allowed to terminate the pregnancy without parental consent. A properly-performed abortion is safer than carrying a pregnancy to term.
Posted by: Ealasaid at October 25, 2006 09:59 AM
A few links to shore up my "abortion is safer than pregnancy" statement:
Emedicinehealth.com: "Legal abortion is a safe procedure. Infection rates are less than 1%, and fewer than 1 in 100,000 deaths occurs from first-trimester abortions."
guttmacher.org"The risk of death associated with abortion increases with the length of pregnancy, from one death for every one million abortions at or before eight weeks to one per 29,000 at 16–20 weeks—and one per 11,000 at 21 or more weeks.
The risk of death associated with childbirth is about 12 times as high as that associated with abortion."
Plus, when you consider post partum depression and post partum psychosis... geez. At least abortion doesn't trigger mental illness. ;-p
Posted by: Ealasaid at October 25, 2006 10:11 AM
Graphics from works 