high court to rule on parental consent for abortions

[me23]

today will decide if girls under 16 should be allowed abortion without parents consent.
what do you think?
should they be allowed?

[nooka]

wannaBe1974 every case is judged on it's merits, and that's really the point of the legislation in this area (Gillick). Of course at 14 no-one is able to make this sort of decision without the support of an adult, but as any advice/treatment will be given by an adult these kids are being supported (the guidance is this area is very prescriptive, in fact), it's just that in some circumstances the child may not wish for that adult to be their parent. paolosgirl I would agree with you that schools not giving calpol/plasters is plain silly, but that is school policy, and not nationally set. Evidence from around the world suggests that sex education is the only thing tht makes a difference to teenage pregnancy rates. Oh, and most abortions are not surgical, and just involve taking a pill. I don't really disagree with you overall, as of course I would want to know if my daughter was in trouble, but all services do encourage the child to talk to their parents, and I would see it as my failure as a parent if my child was able to persuade someone else that they felt unable to talk to me.

[Pruni]

Message withdrawn

[motherinferior]

I understood that we had very low levels of sex ed in the UK, compared to countries with a much lower teenage pregnancy rate.

Young people are going to want to have sex. We all wanted to. Many of us did. They're biologically programmed to want it, and their hormones are shouting GROPE! SNOG! SEX! at them 24/7. IMO the more information they have about contraception options - and come to that sexual activity which will not lead to pregnancy - the better. And of course it should be confidential.

[Aloha]

Some parents would - quite literally - kill their daughter if they knew she was pregnant. Should we tell them?

[expatinscotland]

I hope my daughters feel comfortable talking to me about sex and birth control. I'll certainly bring it up. But if they don't, I'd hope there'd be some place they'd be able to get reliable, accurate information.

Abortion is a personal decision. End of. Whether the female is under 16 or 50.

[Pruni]

Message withdrawn

[motherinferior]

Sorry...

I seriously think a lot more education about non-penetrative sex ('now, class, it's blow-jobs today, I'm going to give each of you a banana') would be a very good thing, from lots of points of view

[Pruni]

Message withdrawn

[motherinferior]

OK, that's our careers sorted, then.

[Pruni]

Message withdrawn

[Aloha]

From what I gather in the Daily Mail quite a few female teachers are offering very hands-on, practical lessons in sex education these days....

[serenity]

How can more education be a bad thing? at the idea of education being bad!

[Pruni]

Message withdrawn

[Aloha]

Well, I just thought it was something you and MI could offer as a purely educational service to the sixth form

(it's late!)

[hunkermunker]

PMSL at banana BJs and frottage lessons.

[Pruni]

Message withdrawn

[expatinscotland]

They could explain the suckling as breastfeeding .

[Aloha]

Right, that's it, I'm off!