Search Results for: parental consent
Parental Consent is Advised (and Anti-Choice)
If you haven’t yet heard the story of Anonymous 5, the 16 year-old Nebraska Girl who had to ask the court system for permission to have an abortion and was denied because she is apparently “not sufficiently mature,” I apologize if I’m bumming you out with the complete ridiculousness of her situation. I’m also sorry to inform you, if it’s further news to you, that Anonymous 5’s case is hardly an uncommon one—that is if you live in any one of the 39 states that require parental notification and/or consent of an abortion. Hint: that includes a whole lot of people.
Miller and Johnson: Law requiring parental notification before abortions would make matters worse
First, in a state with one of the highest teen birth rates in the nation, the vast majority of public school districts don’t teach students about birth control in sex education classes. In addition, family planning services for low-income women are still struggling to recover from draconian public funding cuts in 2011 that forced the closure of at least 56 health clinics across the state. One legislator that year even boasted that he and his colleagues were engaged in a “war on birth control.” In addition, mandatory waiting periods, a requirement for invasive sonograms and other measures have placed obstacles between patients seeking abortion care and their doctors. Last year, the Legislature passed – over the objections of medical and public health experts – even more burdensome regulations that forced… Read more »
Emergency Contraception in Public Schools and the concept of “Parental Rights”
Well, color me surprised. New York City has started expanding its contraceptive offerings (emergency contraception, birth control, condoms, pregnancy tests) in city schools. I was honestly ignorant to the fact that any high school provided these services to teens. I obviously think it’s a great thing but there are good points from both sides, so let’s talk about it! First we will get some figures out of the way, thanks to NYC Health Department: 7,000 girls under age 17 got pregnant last year in the city (Wow, that’s it?) 90% of those pregnancies were unplanned (I really hope the other 700 were well capable of taking care of another human being.) 64% were aborted (That’s 4480 preventable abortions) 2,200 became moms by age 17. About 70 percent drop out of… Read more »
Abortion Resources
Below you’ll find detailed information about self-managed abortion, as well as abortion services, support, funding, laws, and other resources nationally and in URGE’s priority states.
Ohio pro-choice activists are gearing up for a fight against a restrictive anti-abortion bill
“Young people under the age of 18 have to obtain parental consent or go through a cumbersome and traumatizing process of getting a judicial bypass from the state when they decide to end a pregnancy,” explained Jordyn Close, an Ohio state coordinator with Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity (URGE), a queer, youth-led reproductive justice organization focused in the South and Midwest. Close also explained that during the most recent budget cycle, the Ohio legislature siphoned limited state resources to fund anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers.
Birth Control in My Community
By: Anna Beth Peters My personal experience with the birth control pill has been a roller coaster; I originally started taking the pill in high school to regulate my period. I have tried a few different options, and I have had incredibly varying results. I have struggled with mood changes, depression, hormonal acne breakouts, cramps, and difficulty getting my prescription from pharmacies. Despite all of the issues I have encountered with birth control, taking the pill greatly enhances my life by regulating my period and giving a sense of normalcy to my cycle. People take the pill for many different reasons; some take it for period regulation, some take it to lessen cramps, acne, or the chance of infection, and some people take it solely to prevent pregnancy. No matter… Read more »
We Are Gay & We Are Pregnant: How Unpregnant Combats the Stigmas Surrounding Abortions
***SPOILERS MENTIONED. This past weekend, while in my humble dorm room eating a bag of frozen cotton candy grapes, I decided to start my 7-day free trial on HBO and watch the recently released movie Unpregnant starring Barbie Ferreira and Haley Lu Richardson. I remember quite vividly when the trailer first came out and based on my initial reaction and Twitter’s; I thought I had an idea of what type of movie I’d soon be watching; another coming of age film that’s centered around teen white girls. And yes, it was precisely just that. But I wasn’t entirely disappointed. In this movie, we follow 17-year-old Veronica (played by Haley lu Richardson,) as she and her friend, Bailey (played by Barbie Ferreria), travel across state lines to the nearest abortion clinic…. Read more »
How Late Can You Get An Abortion? It Depends On Where You Live
Keep in mind that if you are a minor, you will likely need parental consent to get an abortion. “Unfortunately, most states force young people under 18 to involve their parents in their decision to end a pregnancy,” Kimberly Inez McGuire, Executive Director of URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, previously told Elite Daily. “Most of these states require the consent or notification of only one parent, though some states require the involvement of both parents.”
Minors Know Best: Whats Wrong with West Virginia’s New Anti-Abortion Law
Last week, the West Virginia state senate passed legislation for a bill that would prevent physicians from performing an abortion for unemancipated minors unless they have prior parental consent 48 before the procedure. Currently, West Virginia’s law surrounding a minor’s abortion access allows doctors to waive the need for parental notification for an abortion if the physician believes that is in the patients best interest. If the proposed bill went through, physicians would no longer legally be able to waive the need for parental notification. The bill, HB 2002, is yet another example of anti-choice legislation. With a large population of West Virginians considering themselves anti-choice, the law suggests that most parents would opt for their minor not to have an abortion. The bill also represents a continuous push to pull… Read more »
Kansas Sex Education Fight May Return in 2015
In 2007, the Board of Education in Kansas updated its policy with regard to sex education, removing the prior policy of recommending abstinence-only until marriage curriculum, and replacing it with a recommendation for an abstinence-based curriculum that includes factual information on STI and unintended pregnancy prevention. While this policy, which remains intact, does not have the ability to require any specific curriculum for an individual school district, it has helped improve young people’s access to the information they need. Many school districts have adopted an abstinence-plus curriculum, which falls in line with the recommendations from the Board of Education. This policy also does not include a requirement for any specific type of parental consent mechanism. Instead, the decision what type of parental consent is required has been left to individual… Read more »
