The Lies about Parental Notification
The Lies about Parental Notification
If the religious right ostensibly cares so much about "family values," where were the parents when the kid got pregnant in the first place? And why don't they care enough about kids to teach them how to avoid pregnancy and STDs in the first place? If they believe that premarital intercourse is a sin, what good will it do them to find out about it after the fact?
Whether you're a teenager or an adult, your "sins"--real or merely accused by others--should be between you and God. The religious right has no business interfering in other people's lives.
Someone who's old enough to get pregnant is old enough to decide whether or not she's ready to become a mother, based on her own personal religious beliefs about whether the soul enters the body at birth or before.
Parental notification actually endangers teens. And it will not magically create family communication where it does not exist. Either the family has healthy communication or it doesn't. A 1991 study of unmarried minors having abortions in states without parental notification found that 61 percent told at least one parent. Of those who did not, 30 percent had histories of violence in the home, feared occurrence of violence, or were afraid of being forced to leave the home. Of those who did not tell parents, all (100 percent!) consulted someone in addition to clinic staff (their partner, 89 percent; an adult, 52 percent; a professional, 22 percent).
Healthy communication cannot be created by force of legislation. Parental notification will greatly endanger teens. This law will have effect only where the family is unsupportive, in crisis, dysfunctional, or abuse. The evidence for this is unfortunately strong.
Certainly the advocates of this measure are right to want healthy families, but this measure is sadly misguided. Healthy families are founded on love, not legislation.
Do not be fooled. Although "parental notification" may seem reasonable at first glance, this measure endangers teens, and it is just the first step in the militant religious-right agenda to force their beliefs onto others and to eliminate religious freedom for those whose moral beliefs are different. Already they have filed an initiative for the 2008 Oregon election that would ban almost all abortions with no exception to save the life of the mother. And a 2008 OCA initiative contains such extreme language that it may become their most vicious anti-gay hate campaign ever.
The religious right is not willing to share the world with others of God's children who are capable of a broader perspective of the divinity of God's diverse creation. They seek to force their limited and immature beliefs on others. And they attempt to eliminate religious freedom for people with whom they disagree. Please don't tolerate this demagoguery. Vote no on 43.
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