Minors Rights And Consent
Minors’ Rights and the Issue of Teen Abortion without Parental/Guardian
Notification and Consent
Sarah House
Critical Thinking: PYSU 201
Steven Rich, M.A., M.A.
December 6, 2008
Minors’ Rights and the Issue of Teen Abortion Without Parental/Guardian
Notification and Consent
With the recent Proposition which intended to implement a parental notification requirement, the issue of the rights of minors has come into question. Minors do not have the ability to reason and make a thorough risk assessment and therefore should not have the full constitutional rights that are given to adults. With this being said, minors should not be allowed to obtain abortions without the consent of a parent or guardian. There seems to be an inconsistency …show more content…
Our culture has a large impact in this determination of minor’s transition into adulthood and our assessment of their increasing cognitive ability. At what age do we develop the ability to fully reason, assess the risk, and make decisions to avoid mishap? At the ripe old age of thirty-eight, I have fully mastered this (yeah right), but I have to wonder what the average is for a minor. Smith (1996) stated, “The frontal lobe of the brain, which deals with the control of sexual drives as well as abstract reasoning and planning, is not completely myelinated until 14 or 15 years of age (Anastasiow, 1982). Major changes in cognitive ability occur between early and late adolescence, most notably the capacity to reason abstractly, predict future consequences, and see things from different perspectives. As these changes occur, the conception of the self as invulnerable diminishes and the impact of knowledge of risk increases.” It is readily accepted, however inconsistent the laws are, that minors do not possess the same reasoning skills and decision making skills to have their world of choices be at the same level as an adult. Parents have the right to require medical treatment of a minor, they also have the right to disallow medical treatment such as cosmetic surgery. If a court of law supports the parent/guardian rights to decide what medical treatment their child can/cannot …show more content…
Minors are not apt to take the initiative to communicate to those adults who may be helpful in making life choices and even more apt to feel isolated and overburden if abuse is present in their lives. By requiring notification and bringing light to this matter, agencies that exist to consider the best interest of the minor when parents/guardians fail can intervene. Promoting secrecy and requiring no acceptance of responsibility for a minors’ welfare will not help to provide more resources to teens. In some instances, the provision of resources may be to for parents/guardians to accept responsibility, and accept the services available for both teens and families. We cannot continue to use the excuse that teens have a difficult time communicating with their parents so passing laws which perpetuate this lack of communication is the only
Notification and Consent
Sarah House
Critical Thinking: PYSU 201
Steven Rich, M.A., M.A.
December 6, 2008
Minors’ Rights and the Issue of Teen Abortion Without Parental/Guardian
Notification and Consent
With the recent Proposition which intended to implement a parental notification requirement, the issue of the rights of minors has come into question. Minors do not have the ability to reason and make a thorough risk assessment and therefore should not have the full constitutional rights that are given to adults. With this being said, minors should not be allowed to obtain abortions without the consent of a parent or guardian. There seems to be an inconsistency …show more content…
Our culture has a large impact in this determination of minor’s transition into adulthood and our assessment of their increasing cognitive ability. At what age do we develop the ability to fully reason, assess the risk, and make decisions to avoid mishap? At the ripe old age of thirty-eight, I have fully mastered this (yeah right), but I have to wonder what the average is for a minor. Smith (1996) stated, “The frontal lobe of the brain, which deals with the control of sexual drives as well as abstract reasoning and planning, is not completely myelinated until 14 or 15 years of age (Anastasiow, 1982). Major changes in cognitive ability occur between early and late adolescence, most notably the capacity to reason abstractly, predict future consequences, and see things from different perspectives. As these changes occur, the conception of the self as invulnerable diminishes and the impact of knowledge of risk increases.” It is readily accepted, however inconsistent the laws are, that minors do not possess the same reasoning skills and decision making skills to have their world of choices be at the same level as an adult. Parents have the right to require medical treatment of a minor, they also have the right to disallow medical treatment such as cosmetic surgery. If a court of law supports the parent/guardian rights to decide what medical treatment their child can/cannot …show more content…
Minors are not apt to take the initiative to communicate to those adults who may be helpful in making life choices and even more apt to feel isolated and overburden if abuse is present in their lives. By requiring notification and bringing light to this matter, agencies that exist to consider the best interest of the minor when parents/guardians fail can intervene. Promoting secrecy and requiring no acceptance of responsibility for a minors’ welfare will not help to provide more resources to teens. In some instances, the provision of resources may be to for parents/guardians to accept responsibility, and accept the services available for both teens and families. We cannot continue to use the excuse that teens have a difficult time communicating with their parents so passing laws which perpetuate this lack of communication is the only