# Texas to require notarized parental consent for abortions
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [September 1, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140 "2006-09-01T23:49:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/1 "2006-09-01T23:49:36Z")
[Link.](http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/4155982.html) What a fucking despicable act. Forcing anyone to carry a child against her will is pretty bad already, but forcing teenage girls to do it _just because of their age_ is pure evil.
But the best part is this stunning display of idiocy:
> [@](#):
>
> “It’s been a long-fought battle for this victory,” declared Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, which opposes abortion. “I believe we will see a drop in abortions and pregnancies for girls 17 years and younger.”
Might want to think before you speak next time. These restrictions don’t make it any harder for minors to get pregnant, only harder for them to _stop_ being pregnant. Abortion rates might drop, but there’s not a chance in hell that pregnancy rates will drop.
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### Author:  [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/2 "2006-09-02T00:03:28Z")
> [@Mr2001](#):
>
> Abortion rates might drop, but there’s not a chance in hell that pregnancy rates will drop.
And that’s just \*official \* abortion rates. Coat hanger, anyone?
Actually, the biggest problem I have with this isn’t that this makes it harder to get an abortion, but that the decision is now given to two or three people instead of one. People who want to outlaw abortion I can sympathise with; that there are people that want the decision to be taken out of the hands of the girl concerned _and_ the state worries me.
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### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/3 "2006-09-02T00:39:06Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#):
>
> And that’s just \*official \* abortion rates. Coat hanger, anyone?..
I’m also opposed to Texas’s new law, but has anyone actually done any studies regarding parental consent laws and “back alley” abortions?
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### Author:  [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/4 "2006-09-02T03:57:41Z")
Purely for my own edification, and not to subtly push a point of view: what major medical procedures are there right now that don’t already require parental consent? Was abortion alone, or even one of few, before this law? I ask because I realized upon reading this thread that I really don’t know much about medical law and ethics as it relates to youth and surgeries.
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### Author:  [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/5 "2006-09-02T04:22:28Z")
I was thinking about this thread earlier and I realized that which was probably obvious to everyone but me: the purpose of the notary is just to publically humiliate the whole family.
This law not only goes against teens trying to get abortions against their parent’s will, but even parents that are willing to do it. Can you imagine the scene? “Why hello, Mr. Notary. Do you have the form that says I allow my underaged daughter to get an abortion? Great, I’ll sign it here. You sign it here.” I’d imagine that in most small Texas towns (which are very much like the lil place I’m from), word would travel VERY fast.
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### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/6 "2006-09-02T04:33:50Z")
[obligatory Simpsons quote] Hehehe. This is Wang Po’s time to shine! [obligatory Simpsons quote]
[back to Serious **drop** , but still using that quote as a point of reference] Excellent point, **Diosa** , but don’t most notaries take their duties more seriously than that? They have few opportunities to shine like Wang Po and part of the luster is keeping quiet. You don’t worry about your defense attorney blabbing.
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### Author:  [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/7 "2006-09-02T04:48:30Z")
My mother was a notary public when she worked as a secretary at the junior high, so she could certify documents for them. As I remember it was a very simple process. I’d expect that every abortion clinic or hospital will just have someone on staff take care of it. In fact, I’d be surprised if hospitals don’t already have someone.
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### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/8 "2006-09-02T05:03:00Z")
AND, I assume burning bamboo sticks under your mother’s fingernails wouldn’t cause your mother to tell who she had notarized what for whom. Okay, maybe not that, but I assume she realized nobody would come for her stamp if she blabbed about it.
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### Author:  [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/9 "2006-09-02T05:56:23Z")
:rolleyes: Stop your bitching. :rolleyes:
The original version of the bill required teeny bopper moms to get a notarised note from their parents, Jesus Christ and the unborn soul of the fetus allowing the abortion.
Remember, you can’t spell TEXAS without GOD and FOOTBALL.
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### Author:  [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/10 "2006-09-02T06:17:37Z")
> [@Leaper](#):
>
> Purely for my own edification, and not to subtly push a point of view: what major medical procedures are there right now that don’t already require parental consent? Was abortion alone, or even one of few, before this law?
To the best of my knowledge, every major medical procedure _except_ abortion requires parental consent. Every surgical procedure certainly does.
You might find the following interesting: [http://usconservatives.about.com/od/parentalnotification/p/consent.htm](http://usconservatives.about.com/od/parentalnotification/p/consent.htm)
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### Author:  [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/11 "2006-09-02T06:22:01Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#):
>
> I was thinking about this thread earlier and I realized that which was probably obvious to everyone but me: the purpose of the notary is just to publically humiliate the whole family.
No, the purpose of requiring notarization is to help make sure that the parents are indeed the ones who fill out these parental consent forms, as opposed to the children or their friends.
One might not agree with this particular requirement or its efficacy. Nevertheless, it’s simply foolish to suggest that its only purpose is to humiliate the entire family. If that were the case, then the law would require something that is designed to attract public attention – publishing a poster or a newspaper ad, for example.
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### Author:  [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/12 "2006-09-02T06:25:35Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#):
>
> And that’s just \*official \* abortion rates. Coat hanger, anyone?
How many instances of coat hanger abortions are you aware of? For that matter, [what are the real statistics with regard to back alley abortions](http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sfl/illeg.htm) – whether performed via coat hangers or some other means?
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### Author:  [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/13 "2006-09-02T06:38:55Z")
> [@JThunder](#):
>
> No, the purpose of requiring notarization is to help make sure that the parents are indeed the ones who fill out these parental consent forms, as opposed to the children or their friends.
Sure. After all, who knows what’d happen if these teenagers were able to sign their own consent forms - they might end up waiting until age 18, 21, or even _later_ to experience the miracle of childbirth! :eek:
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### Author:  [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/14 "2006-09-02T06:46:20Z")
> [@JThunder](#):
>
> You might find the following interesting: [http://usconservatives.about.com/od/parentalnotification/p/consent.htm](http://usconservatives.about.com/od/parentalnotification/p/consent.htm)
I found this part interesting: “Parents, who have the primary position of responsibility over the health and welfare of their children, do not want their teenage daughters undergoing potentially dangerous medical procedures without their knowledge.”
IANAT, but I’m going to bet there’s no law in Texas requiring parental consent before those very same teenage daughters are allowed to give birth, even though it’s [just as dangerous](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=639966&dopt=Abstract).
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### Author:  [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/15 "2006-09-02T07:12:14Z")
> [@JThunder](#):
>
> How many instances of coat hanger abortions are you aware of? For that matter, [what are the real statistics with regard to back alley abortions](http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sfl/illeg.htm) – whether performed via coat hangers or some other means?
Wow, that almost looks like it’s from Vanderbilt University and shit. Not some pro-life student group or anything… :dubious:
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/16 "2006-09-02T08:37:02Z")
So, if a girl is molested by her father, she has to beg him for an abortion, and to come along for the ride ?
As for the real purpose of this law and other anti-abortion parental notification laws, it’s so the girl can be terrorized or beaten by the parents into having the baby, or simply killed by them.
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### Author:  [@Whoa\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whoa_1)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/17 "2006-09-02T09:24:56Z")
> [@Der Trihs](#):
>
> As for the real purpose of this law and other anti-abortion parental notification laws, it’s so the girl can be terrorized or beaten by the parents into having the baby, or simply killed by them.
I’m sure that’s exactly what the lawmakers were thinking. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/18 "2006-09-02T09:34:01Z")
> [@Whoa](#):
>
> I’m sure that’s exactly what the lawmakers were thinking. :rolleyes:
I’m sure that’s precisely what they were thinking.
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### Author:  [@Whoa\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whoa_1)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/19 "2006-09-02T09:44:48Z")
> [@Der Trihs](#):
>
> I’m sure that’s precisely what they were thinking.
Maybe I’m too trusting, but I find it extremely difficult to believe that there are all these parents that would beat/kill there own children for simply choosing to have an abortion.
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### Author:  [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2006, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-to-require-notarized-parental-consent-for-abortions/371140/20 "2006-09-02T10:37:32Z")
> [@Whoa](#):
>
> Maybe I’m too trusting, but I find it extremely difficult to believe that there are all these parents that would beat/kill there own children for simply choosing to have an abortion.
I’m sure there are many who would–not necessarily for the abortion, but for getting pregnant in the first place–and many more who’d just force them to carry the child, which is easily as cruel as a beating.
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