TEENS AND SECRET ABORTIONS
A teenage girl in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire made British news earlier this
month because the school health care worker who encouraged her to have an
abortion did not bother to contact the girl's parents.
After learning she was pregnant, fourteen-year-old Melissa Smith sought the help
of teachers who sent her to a National Teenage Pregnancy Strategy service
offered at the school. Without first seeking to notify the girl's mother, a
21-year-old health care worker referred Melissa to a local hospital for pills
containing
chemicals that would induce an abortion. The hospital did not require parental
consent in order to give the pills to a minor.
Melissa's mother, Maureen Smith, found out about the pregnancy through one of
her daughter's friends and that night talked to Melissa about the situation.
Through the conversation with her mother, Melissa changed her mind about the
abortion and decided that she would keep the baby. However, by that time the
chemicals had already started doing their damage and the hospital later
said it was too late to save the baby.
"She had an appendix operation last year and I had to sign two consent
forms," said her mother, "Yet no one thought it necessary to tell me
about this." She said, "It's devastating that she faced going through
a termination without me by her side. She's just a kid. I feel like my right as
a parent has been taken away, like I've had my heart ripped out, so God knows
what my daughter is going through."
The girl's 14-year-old boyfriend is also extremely upset over the abortion and
the loss of the baby. The boy's mother said, "We phoned the hospital on
Thursday evening and they assured us everything would be fine. And they did plan
to keep the baby - on the Friday they were very happy, planning the future, as
fourteen-year-olds do. Then on the Saturday, it all came to a head when it was
too late, the termination had already started."
While parents have a primary interest and responsibility over the health and
welfare of their children, they are often treated as irrelevant in the abortion
issue. Minor children must have parental permission for nearly every type of
medical care and procedure, except when deciding to have an abortion.
A spokesman for Mansfield Primary Care Trust said, "If a young person
attends a family planning clinic with an unwanted pregnancy... she will be
counseled by a clinician and an assessment made as to whether she is competent
to make a decision regarding a termination. If she was found to be competent
then a referral would be made to a gynecologist. Whether a parent was informed
would be the patient's decision."
This kind of attitude outrages parents like Maureen Smith. "How can a
21-year-old think she knows my child better than I do?" she asked.
Parents face similar issues in the United States, where minors can be referred
to out-of-state abortion clinics if they live in a state that requires parents
to be notified before their children can get abortions. During the 105th, 106th,
and the 107th Congresses, the U.S. House of Representatives passed
the Child Custody Protection Act, which would make it a federal crime to
transport minors across state lines to get around state parental notification
laws. The bill has been held up time and again in the Senate however, and the
2003 version of the bill (H.R. 1755) is still waiting for a vote in the House,
though it now has 101
cosponsors.
RELATED LINKS:
Abortion Boyfriend 'Wanted Baby' - BBC News:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/3723913.stm
School Sets Up Abortion For 14-year-old - The Sunday Times (South Africa):
http://www.suntimes.co.za/2004/05/16/news/news11.asp
Adverts on 'Secret Abortions' in Teenage Magazines - The Evening Standard:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/10759620?source=Evening
Child Custody Protection Act Information - NRLC.org:
http://www.nrlc.org/federal/ccpa/index.html