by Moe Zilla

Created on: June 05, 2007   Last Updated: September 19, 2009

Requiring "parental consent" is one of those arguments that sounds reasonable but isn't. Ask supporters of this restriction if they'll also provide teenagers with contraceptives, and most will say no. Underneath it all, they're not even trying to prevent teen pregnancies or abortions - they're just trying to dictate how other people behave. What they really want is to force sexually active teenagers into a confrontation with their parents, and they want it required by law.

Not every parent will understand, and it's deliberate obtuseness to pretend otherwise. But supporters of this restriction cling to their imaginary absolutes anyways, because they don't really care about real-world outcomes. They have an entirely different agenda, and they're just using this catchy soundbite to trick voters into passing new legislation.

The whole "parental phone call" issue was manufactured by opponents of abortion solely to create more obstacles to abortions. (Anti-abortion activists have actually announced this as their strategy.) It's a solution for which there's no problem, since it's never been proven there's a mass population of teenaged girls who aren't telling their parents that they're seeking abortions. Instead this bogus "issue" was created after testing with focus groups, which revealed new restrictions on abortions could be passed if conservatives were cynical enough to invoke "the needs of parents" as their false rationale. (One mother who actually received one of these phone call even replied "Thank you for persecuting my daughter. But I won't keep you on the phone. I'm sure you have many other teenaged girls you want to persecute.")

Notice that this law only affects those teenagers who don't want to talk to their parents - not the ones who do. I can see situations where that's horribly inappropriate. But this restriction would make a high school girl's body into government territory, subject to a Washington D.C. bureaucracy and its over-simplified, one-size-fits-all solution. Do your parents get violent? Do your parents commit incest? "It doesn't matter, call them anyways; it's the new law."

I guess you're never too young to let someone else tell you what to do with your body. But it's not like this argument is, "We know best until you're 18." Abortion opponents would eliminate all abortions if they could, so their true sentiment is "We know best - always. Don't trouble your pretty little head."

Here's how I see it. If someone can choose to be sexually active - then can't she also choose whether she's ready to spend the next 18 years of her life raising a child?

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