# Oh noes! A 25 year old girl is having an abortion. Better notify her parents! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 1, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574 "2008-11-01T14:19:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/1 "2008-11-01T14:19:21Z")
Concerned Women for America, in an [article](http://www.cwalac.org/article_786.shtml) about parental notification of minors having abortions, claims that "seventy-five percent of all abortions are performed on girls _(sic)_ between the ages of 12 and 25. Googling a little bit comes up with 19% as the age percentage of all abortions performed on teenagers. Assuming about a third of those are on 18 & 19 year old legal adults, the true rate of minors having abortions is about 12% of all abortions. But of course, that statistic would not look so impressive. But it would make the article look a little less ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/2 "2008-11-01T14:40:06Z")
Just one of the many “huh?” moments I had with that paper: [QUOTE=LaToya Cain, CWA] One of the arguments abortion proponents use against CIANA is that it will hinder women’s “reproductive rights.” How exactly are parental involvement laws harmful to a “woman’s right to choose” when CIANA and other parental involvement laws pertain to minor females and not adult women? Another flawed argument claims that it would make criminals of those “kindhearted and compassionate adults,” who seek to “help” female minors deceive and hide information from their parents, obtain abortions. **Anyone who takes a child to Disneyland without the knowledge or consent of the parents could be charged with kidnapping, so why are unauthorized people who take children across state lines for abortions not held to the same standard?** [/QUOTE] My bolding. Um, they aren’t? If a child is \*\*kidnapped \*\*and taken across state lines for an abortion (a likely scenario?) is it not still **kidnapping**? You can’t just charge someone with kidnapping because you didn’t like where they took them. Kidnapping is kidnapping and a wholly separate issue than abortion. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/3 "2008-11-01T14:42:06Z")
ETA to add: How hard is it to understand that women’s “reproductive rights” (I love the scare quotes; it tells me they really don’t think women should have those rights.) apply to ALL women that can reproduce, not just the ones they can’t control. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/4 "2008-11-01T14:49:13Z")
Unbelievable. They actually oppose efforts to promote gender equality around the globe. Would these people support a bill to end women’s suffrage if the bill also prohibited abortion? ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/5 "2008-11-01T15:49:27Z")
I have a teenage daughter. If she needed an abortion, I hope (and believe) she’d come to me. But if she doesn’t, that’s her decision. People who support parental consent laws never seem to take into consideration two important issues. Firstly, who is going to be responsible for that baby? It certainly should NOT be the minor who (allegedly) isn’t capable of taking responsibility for herself. Secondly, if parents can forbid abortions, can they also \*force \*them? Because I’m certain that many parents would prefer that their teenage daughters NOT have babies. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/6 "2008-11-01T20:51:43Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > I have a teenage daughter. If she needed an abortion, I hope (and believe) she’d come to me. But if she doesn’t, that’s her decision. > > People who support parental consent laws never seem to take into consideration two important issues. Firstly, who is going to be responsible for that baby? It certainly should NOT be the minor who (allegedly) isn’t capable of taking responsibility for herself. Secondly, if parents can forbid abortions, can they also \*force \*them? Because I’m certain that many parents would prefer that their teenage daughters NOT have babies. A third option, the daughter can go out and have a backalley abortion, thus putting her life and future reproductive health in jeapordy. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/7 "2008-11-01T21:16:21Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > A third option, the daughter can go out and have a backalley abortion, thus putting her life and future reproductive health in jeapordy. Yabbut… it’d be _illegal_, which after all is the important part. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/8 "2008-11-01T21:23:46Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Concerned Women for America, in an [article](http://www.cwalac.org/article_786.shtml) about parental notification of minors having abortions, claims that "seventy-five percent of all abortions are performed on girls _(sic)_ between the ages of 12 and 25. > > … My guesss would be that 75% or more of all pregnancies happen during that same age range. I couldalso imagine than women older than that might have a HIGHER abortion rate, as the risk of pregnancies and birth defects start to grow for older women. OTOH, I do hear that more and more women are delaying their pregnancies until they are older and better able to cope with the financial burdern. Maybe it’s a wash, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/9 "2008-11-01T21:41:35Z")
I admire the relative restraint of the pro-life crowd. For wouldn’t it be equally factual to say that “seventy-five percent of all abortions are performed on girls (sic) between the ages of 5 and 25”? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/10 "2008-11-01T21:55:14Z")
Or birth and 25. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/11 "2008-11-01T22:01:18Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > … Firstly, who is going to be responsible for that baby? It certainly should NOT be the minor who (allegedly) isn’t capable of taking responsibility for herself. Secondly, if parents can forbid abortions, can they also \*force \*them? Because I’m certain that many parents would prefer that their teenage daughters NOT have babies. Good point. If parents can prevent a girl from having an abortion could/should they also be able to prevent her from giving it up for adoption? If so should the girl be able to just walk away from the baby once she’s 18 and leave grandma & grampa do raise it? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/12 "2008-11-02T01:14:41Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Good point. If parents can prevent a girl from having an abortion could/should they also be able to prevent her from giving it up for adoption? If so should the girl be able to just walk away from the baby once she’s 18 and leave grandma & grampa do raise it? Luckily for all the unfit parents in America, they can now dump children of any age Nebraska’s “safe haven” sites. ---
**Author:** ![LVgeogeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/13 "2008-11-02T03:48:50Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Luckily for all the unfit parents in America, they can now dump children of any age Nebraska’s “safe haven” sites. I read an article the other day that stated that Nebraska’s governor is pushing to limit the age of children, to 3 months old or less IIRC, that can be given up under the states Safe Haven Law. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/14 "2008-11-02T04:14:33Z")
> [@LVgeogeek](#): > > I read an article the other day that stated that Nebraska’s governor is pushing to limit the age of children, to 3 months old or less IIRC, that can be given up under the states Safe Haven Law. People better hurry then. I know one father already dropped off nine kids, I think, aged 2-15. And others have been driving in from out of state. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/15 "2008-11-03T13:29:21Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Good point. If parents can prevent a girl from having an abortion could/should they also be able to prevent her from giving it up for adoption? If so should the girl be able to just walk away from the baby once she’s 18 and leave grandma & grampa do raise it? This is what that 22 year old “girl” Eleanor Louise Cowell’s parents did. Thank God they knew she was pregnant and didn’t arrange an abortion. Thank God the world wasn’t deprived of Ted Bundy. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/16 "2008-11-03T13:50:24Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Concerned Women for America, in an [article](http://www.cwalac.org/article_786.shtml) about parental notification of minors having abortions, claims that "seventy-five percent of all abortions are performed on girls _(sic)_ between the ages of 12 and 25. > > Googling a little bit comes up with 19% as the age percentage of all abortions performed on teenagers. Assuming about a third of those are on 18 & 19 year old legal adults, the true rate of minors having abortions is about 12% of all abortions. But of course, that statistic would not look so impressive. But it would make the article look a little less ridiculous. How did you come to the conclusion that _“…about a third of those are on 18 & 19 year old legal adults, the true rate of minors having abortions is about 12% of all abortions”?_ Like a cite maybe…? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/17 "2008-11-03T14:05:18Z")
It’s very hard to find underage abortion statistics. My point is the anti-abortion crowd tosses in legal adults as the “girls” having abortions when they talk about parental notification. According to [this](http://www.mccl.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=419&srcid=297) cite, minors had **5%** of all the abortions performed in Minnesota in one year. One thing is sure: We ain’t talking no 75% of all abortions requiring parental notification. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/18 "2008-11-03T14:05:39Z")
> [@Guttmacher Institute](#): > > The majority of abortions (57%) are obtained by women in their 20s. Minors account for fewer than 7% of all abortions. [Cite](http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2008/09/23/TrendsWomenAbortions-wTables.pdf) Warning - PDF! ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/19 "2008-11-03T14:23:11Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > This is what that 22 year old “girl” Eleanor Louise Cowell’s parents did. Thank God they knew she was pregnant and didn’t arrange an abortion. Thank God the world wasn’t deprived of Ted Bundy. This is a very bad argument for abortion. It works the same way, in reverse using folks like Beethoven for the anti-abortion crowd. Plus it gets us to talking about Hitler Glue. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574/20 "2008-11-03T14:47:07Z")
Yeah, the 12-25 year old grouping for “girls” is just flat out deceiving. And how many minors, exactly, are transported across state lines for “coerced” abortions? I wonder, though, how accurate this statement is: > [@](#): > > CIANA is not only supported by pro-life Members of Congress, but studies also show that close to 80 percent of the public is in favor of parental notification laws. We had a ballot initiative in '04 in CA to impose parental notification (or was it approval?) for a minor to get an abortion, and it failed to pass. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-a-25-year-old-girl-is-having-an-abortion-better-notify-her-parents/470574.md?page=2)