Rights Of Minors

Medical Rights of Minors “In 2013, there were 26.5 births for every 1,000 adolescent females ages 15-19, or 273,105 babies born to females in this age group.” Some of these unplanned pregnancies may have been prevented if those minors had access to their own health records and medical decisions. “Adolescents' brains are not adequately developed to make these kinds of decisions, that they are heavily influenced by social and emotional reactions, including the wishes of friends and family.” This was stated during the case of a nearly 18 year old girl who was being forced to go through six months of chemotherapy against her wished by the law because she was unable to make adequate decisions. She was just months away from making her own decisions
The part of the brain that is actually still developing when a minor becomes an adult is the frontal lobe, which continues to mature until the age of twenty-five. “In humans, the frontal lobe reaches full maturity around the late twenties, marking the cognitive maturity associated with adulthood.” Just because this section of the brain deals with problem solving and cognitive skills, doesn't mean that just because it’s not fully developed means that it doesn't work adequately. If this were the case we’d have twenty-four year olds still going to their parents for all of their medical advice. Beyond the neurological facts, is it fair to generalize the maturity of all adolescents? "Like their bodies, different children’s brains develop at different speeds.” If this is true, this would explain how some sixteen year olds are more mature than some twenty year olds, so is it ethical to set an age for all children when they, in fact, are not all developed the same. The human brain continues to develop for years beyond the time they turn eighteen, however this does not justify limiting them to their rights if biologically every child is different and have the ability to make different
Take, for example, the idea of being put into a nursing home at the age of sixty, in precaution of dementia and unsafe behavior. You aren't like everyone else with dementia that developed that early, but because you're that age its being generalized. “Of the 5.3 million Americans with Alzheimer's, an estimated 5.1 million people are age 65 and older, and approximately 200,000 individuals are under age 65 (younger-onset Alzheimer’s).” It’s completely wrong for the government to control at what age you have power over yourself because of a generalized statistic, whether or not you are mentally capable. But then why is it that the things that minors can control medically speaking, all happen to be things in their control that they could've prevented by remaining abstinent and sober from drugs and alcohol. "Many states specifically authorize minors to consent to contraceptive services, testing and treatment for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, prenatal care and delivery services, treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, and outpatient mental health care.” If minors are old enough to become parents, understand the use of illegal substances, and know when to be admitted to a mental hospital, they are definitely old enough to choose whether or not they want