By Dave Andrusko
For decades, parental involvement in the abortion decision of a minor has enjoyed solid support. It has under the unforgiving regime of Roe v. Wade; it will continue to win public support under Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.
Last July, for example, Rasmussen Reports asked 1,000 Likely Voters “Should parental permission be required before an abortion is performed on girls under 18?”
By a margin of more than 2-to-1, voters believe parental permission should be required before an abortion is performed on girls under 18, with 60% in favor of requiring parental permission and just 29% against it. Another 10% are not sure.
While Republicans were more supportive—81%—42% of Democrats were in favor. What about parental notice? Rasmussen writes
Support for parental notification is even higher, with 82% of Republicans, 48% of Democrats and 62% of unaffiliated voters believing that abortion providers should be required to notify parents before performing abortions on girls under age 18. Eight-five percent (85%) of pro-life voters and 43% of pro-choice voters favor parental notification.
Over the weekend, The Denver Gazette editorialized in favor of “Keep[ing] Colorado parents in the loop on abortion.” That pro-abortionists fervently hate any parental involvement is a testament to how much they want the machinery of abortion humming without a glitch.
The editorial begins
Under Colorado law, a school may not dispense even a tablet of acetaminophen to a child with a fever at the nurse’s office without the written permission of a parent or guardian. That’s not always convenient, but it’s a necessary acknowledgment of the pivotal role parents are supposed to play in their children’s health and welfare.
It applies to medical intervention for children in Colorado — except abortion.
The editorial asks
So, you have to wonder what a couple of University of Colorado researchers were trying to prove last week in releasing “findings” that 1 in 10 minors seeking an abortion in Texas and Florida — which are among 22 states requiring parental notice — try to avoid notifying their parents by going to court. And the researchers also found that in 13% of those cases, the judge turned down the request for such a “judicial bypass.”
Thirteen percent of 10% is a minuscule 1.3%. Yet, the study’s authors seem troubled by it.
Of course they are, deeply troubled that even a few babies and their moms escape the abortionist’s clutches.
Co-author Amanda Stevenson, assistant professor of sociology at Colorado University Boulder, said in a news release Friday “States that support abortion rights but continue to mandate parental involvement have a responsibility to consider the true consequences of those mandates.”
What are the “true consequences,” according to the editorial? That, “in a handful of cases, pregnant teens tried to keep their parents from finding out.”
The authors would have you believe that “abortion rights” are under siege in Colorado. Really?!
“Just last year, the Legislature’s Democratic majority passed the Reproductive Health Equity Act, arguably the most permissive state law on abortion in the country after last spring’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed the act amid fanfare. Abortion will remain unfettered for adults in Colorado for the foreseeable future.”
Which brings us back to minors and Colorado’s parental notice law. These “are simply about ensuring that parents or guardians are at least apprised and, one hopes, engaged if their child undergoes a procedure that for many people has profound and life-changing implications,” according to the editorial.
If parents have to sign off on an aspirin, shouldn’t they at least be informed of an invasive medical procedure performed on their 15-, 14- or maybe 13-year-old child?
They conclude
Colorado’s parental-notice law is hardly a burden. But it does keep parents in the loop. That’s a good thing.
But for people like Prof. Stevenson and her co-author Prof. Kate Coleman Minahan, it is a self-evident truth that in most instances parents are the enemies of their own children. That in the process of getting judicial approval before aborting their child—or even merely notifying their parents- minor girls go through a “Burdensome, Unpredictable, and Traumatic” experience.
Personally, I have much more faith in parents than do pro-abortionists who see them as nothing more than obstacles in their never-ending campaign to increase the abortion toll.