Monday, May 23, 2005

Increased Minor Rights Diminish Parental Rights

The legal voting age is 18, the legal drinking age is 21, the legal age to serve in combat is 18, (at this time, depending upon the individual state laws in place) a person cannot be tried as an adult unless they are age 18, and the legal age to purchase cigarettes is 18.

There are more legal age laws (gambling,movie ratings, etc.) in place, but to simplify, I will use the national standards on the "big ones". Based on the above listed, the nationally accepted medium age of majority (i.e. considered to be mentally mature enough to be able make life-altering decisions) is approximately 18.6 years. So, with that in mind my question is - why does the ACLU feel that a minor (i.e. under the age of 18) can make the decision to have an abortion WITHOUT parental consent or knowledge? How is it that twelve to seventeen year old girls who get themselves impregnated are so much more adult in their thinking then every other twelve to seventeen year old in our nation, when it comes to making decisions about voting, drinking, fighting in war, and creating mayhem by committing a crime against others? This reasoning does not make any sense at all to me.

I do not understand how any parent could condone a situation where their child could make such a monumental decision such as getting an abortion without their knowledge or consent. Are the proponents of minor abortion without parental consent ALL non-parents? It would seem, if this is the case, all of these non-reproducing adults (over the age of 18 to vote that have an impact on politics) had to come from somewhere (i.e. didn't crawl out from under a rock), so where are THEIR parents when it comes to making their voice heard? Obviously, if their parents felt the way their offspring do about abortion, the odds that the offspring would even be here to promote murder by children would be significantly reduced.

In the headlines today is a story reporting that the controversy over abortion rights are going back to the Supreme Court. This time, (in part) it is to clarify the age of majority (or in this case the minority) by which a "woman" can have an abortion and not have to tell her parents. The ACLU has this to say on the subject:

Jennifer Dalven, the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer handling the case, said: "We are welcoming the opportunity to put to rest any lingering questions about whether a woman's right to an abortion is entitled to full constitutional protection."

Notice she said, "woman's" rights. Again I ask, how is it that a twelve or thirteen year old female child can be considered a woman? She can't vote, smoke, drink, or serve in combat. Only a woman can do that. But I guess this is based on the impression that in the instances of voter rights, smoking, drinking, and in war a woman must be mature enough to make an informed decision. When it comes to abortion the only element involved in determining the status of being a "woman" is the ability to become impregnated. No intelligence requirements involved there. Based on this logic - what woman, in her right mind, would endorse legislation that is based on her ability to reproduce (which is totally demeaning) and not her on mind?

I would love to hear from parents, who feel as I do. Even better, I would love to hear from non-parents who think that abortions by minors without parental knowledge or consent is wrong. I would like to see a non-partisan coalition formed by those who feel their parental rights are being infringed upon by groups such as the ACLU and others who are attempting to change the laws which are emancipating our children under our very noses. Without a fight to stop this encroachment on parental rights, parents will someday find themselves without rights to make decisions in raising their children, their children will be emancipated at birth, and the government will be dictating what is in the best interests of the child - instead of the parent.

A name comes to mind for the group P.O.W.E.R.R. (Parents Organized Watch Eliminating Rights Reduction). So what do you think? Are you really a parent or just someone who reproduced? I will create a reciprocal bloglist for anyone who wishes to become involved and from that we can become organized, share information, and make our voices heard.

To those of you who crawled out from under a rock, slither back to wherever you came from.

posted by Is It Just Me? at 4:39 PM