Parental Notification Law: An Absolute Must.

"Parents must give consent before their child can have their ears pierced or a tattoo put on. In fact, in public schools and emergency rooms, parents must give consent before their child can be treated with so much as an aspirin. Most voters agree that it is outrageous to allow a child to undergo any surgical procedure, let alone an invasive, irreversible procedure such as an abortion, without parental notification." -John Pinkerton, former Democratic senatorial candidate from California, during his 1998 campaign.

Arguing against abortion is a losing battle, but arguing for the Parental Notification law should be a absolute must(don't get it confused with the Parental consent laws, which state that a parent or guardian need to give consent in order to have an abortion). The parental notification law slightly differs between states, but basically it says, "That a parent or guardian needs to be notified by the abortion clinic prior to their love one receiving an abortion." The notification law of Nebraska (Nebraska is 1 of 11 states that currently have this law in place) is typical. The Abortion & Contraception Clinic of Nebraska's web site describes a pregnant minor's options under the law.
*The law applies if the woman has not reached her 18th birthday at the time of her clinic appointment. Nebraska law requires one of the following:
*A parent or court-appointed guardian may come to the clinic with the pregnant woman and sign a statement acknowledging that they have been notified of the abortion.
*A clinic doctor can inform a parent or court-appointed guardian by telephone.
*The clinic can send a written notification to the parent or guardian by certified mail (with return receipt requested and restricted delivery) at least 72 hours before the appointment.
*The woman may obtain a Judicial Waiver of Notification. She goes to the Juvenile Court Clerk's Office at her local county courthouse, or the courthouse in the clinic's county, or any adjacent county. The judge will meet privately with the woman; she can be accompanied by her lawyer, and may request that others be present. The judge can take up to one week to decide whether to grant the waiver. If the request is denied, the woman may theoretically appeal to the state Supreme Court. However, this might not be an option because of cost or time restraints.

There are two strong reasons why I feel this law needs to be present throughout the entire United States. (1) Little girls go out for the day and come back a different woman. The negative psychological effects are often worst than expected, and minors within the 12-16 age group are not mature enough to properly cope. (2) If this law is not carried out throughout all the states women will continue to travel to a nearby state which does not have a law requiring parental involvement. The statistics in Virginia and Texas support my argument. Baruch College at City University of New York conducted a study after these states implemented the notification laws and in both states they found a drop in abortion but the abortion rate in Virginia, which dropped about 20% during the first 5 months, was believed to be due to teens traveling to nearby Washington DC where they can freely obtain abortion, this correlation was drawn because the substantial increase in abortion numbers in Washington DC. In Texas the abortion rates for teens aged 15 to 17 fell 11 to 20%. No increase in surrounding states occurred because surrounding states have similar laws in place.