A law which allows young teenagers to terminate pregnancies without their parents' knowledge is the only good part of our abortion legislation and shouldn't be revoked, argues Family Planning.
National MP Chester Borrows has taken a petition to Parliament aimed at making it illegal to provide abortions to under-16s without their parents' consent. The petition was organised by Stratford woman Hillary Kieft, who says her daughter was left infertile and suffering from depression after her school organised an abortion for her in 2010, when she was only 15.
"One day she didn't come home, and I rang the school and was told she had gone to a counselling appointment, and she was dropped home later that day," Ms Kieft told the Taranaki Daily News.
"She was dumped off at home that day and we were left to deal with the mess, although we didn't even know what was going on."
Mr Borrows says girls that young aren't able to make informed choices about issues as serious abortion, and will push it as hard as he can in Parliament.
A previous attempt to change the law by Papakura MP Judith Collins failed in 2004, and Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmond says there's a good reason why this push should also fail.
"The law is in place for a very good reason, and that reason is that young people are at risk. Young people don't always want to talk to their parents or involve their parents," she said on TV3's Paul Henry programme this morning.
She says young women face being thrown out of home for even suggesting having an abortion.
"They need the opportunity to be able to seek services without their parents' support in some instances."
According to Family Planning, three-quarters of all underage and pregnant women seeking abortions do involve their parents, and the rest are usually accompanied by adults they trust. There are also a number of adults involved in the entire process – between six and 10 – and schools aren't the ones doing the organising.
Ms Kieft says her daughter attempted suicide a year afterwards, and the procedure left her infertile – but Ms Edmond says these developments can't necessarily be linked to the abortion.
"There is no evidence that having an abortion affects your fertility and also there is no evidence that really supports the mental health impacts of abortion."
Ms Edmond says the numbers of young women who seek abortions without their parents' knowledge is extremely low.
"These instances are very rare, it's not very common. We're talking a very small number of young women that have choses for often very significant reasons not to talk to their parents. We need to support that."
And changing it would be a retrograde step.
"That's the only good part of our law – that young people can access services without their parents' consent. The rest of our abortion law is terrible."
3 News
source: newshub archive
