Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters by Jessica Valenti
Authors: Jessica Valenti
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second base. Hysterical.)
But this kind of nonsense is par for the course when it comes to teens and abortion rights.
Mother may I . . . ?
There isn’t anything quite as annoying to me as parental consent and notification laws for abortion. Not only do these laws presuppose that young women aren’t capable of making decisions for themselves about their own bodies, but they also assume that kids won’t tell their parents—which just isn’t true.
Thirty-four states have some sort of parental involvement law. Some states require that parents be notified; others say you actually need a written note from your parents okaying the procedure. Arizona even requires that young women have a notarized written note! Next you’ll have to jump through flaming hoops while balancing a spoon on your nose or some shit.
The logic behind the laws is that parents should be involved in their kids’ lives. Okay, I can understand that. But the truth is, most teens do tell their parents if they’re pregnant. And the ones who don’t generally have a pretty good reason not to—like incest or abuse. These laws don’t take that into consideration.
Imagine that a teen girl gets raped by her father and becomes pregnant. She’s seriously supposed to go to him to get
permission for an abortion?! Now, most states do have some sort of judicial bypass, which means you can go in front of a judge and explain why you can’t tell your parents about the pregnancy. This is just crap. If you’re being abused at home, you know that if you tell a judge, officials are going to have to intervene somehow. You’re risking your whole world being turned upside down. Besides, the idea of going in front of a judge is terrifying to anyone—let alone a scared, pregnant, abused teen!
As scary as it is, some teens don’t even have that option. Republican Senator Chris Buttars of Utah recently tried to defend a bill that would get rid of the judicial-bypass option—even for victims of incest. But you have to love that he didn’t even deny his real motives. Senator Buttars said, “Abortion isn’t about women’s rights. The rights they had were when they made the decision to have sex. . . . This is the consequence. The consequence is they should have to talk to their parents.” 10 Even if your parent is the one who got you pregnant. Love that logic. (The consequence of having the last name Buttars is apparently being a huge asshole. Appropriate.)
The bottom line is, these laws are not about keeping teen girls safe. They’re about controlling them. Apparently we’re too naive to decide what to do with our own bodies without permission from a parent or husband. Yeah, you heard right: husband. A lot of these parental involvement laws are only enforceable if the teen is unmarried. So if you’re a married teenager, you can get an abortion. Somehow a sixteen-year-old with a husband is better able to decide if she wants a child?
Once again, just more slut-punishing. If you’re married, it means you’re a good girl. Your prize for not having unmarried sex? Control of your body. You’re single and pregnant? Well, then someone else has to make the decision for you. Sucks for you, slut.
These gross consent laws are starting to trickle down into birth control, too. Like I mentioned before, the irrational fear of Girls Gone Wild has made for quite a difficult time for young women. Some states even require teens to get a written note from their parents just to get birth control. My parents were cool with my being on birth control when I was younger, but I doubt they wanted to know the details. I mean, imagine knowing the intimate details of your mom’s diaphragm. Ew.
A 2006 report showed that 87% of “pregnancy crisis” centers—which have received more than $30 million in federal funding—provided false or misleading information about abortion.
Other states just defy logic. In New York, Governor George Pataki refused to make EC available over the
But this kind of nonsense is par for the course when it comes to teens and abortion rights.
Mother may I . . . ?
There isn’t anything quite as annoying to me as parental consent and notification laws for abortion. Not only do these laws presuppose that young women aren’t capable of making decisions for themselves about their own bodies, but they also assume that kids won’t tell their parents—which just isn’t true.
Thirty-four states have some sort of parental involvement law. Some states require that parents be notified; others say you actually need a written note from your parents okaying the procedure. Arizona even requires that young women have a notarized written note! Next you’ll have to jump through flaming hoops while balancing a spoon on your nose or some shit.
The logic behind the laws is that parents should be involved in their kids’ lives. Okay, I can understand that. But the truth is, most teens do tell their parents if they’re pregnant. And the ones who don’t generally have a pretty good reason not to—like incest or abuse. These laws don’t take that into consideration.
Imagine that a teen girl gets raped by her father and becomes pregnant. She’s seriously supposed to go to him to get
permission for an abortion?! Now, most states do have some sort of judicial bypass, which means you can go in front of a judge and explain why you can’t tell your parents about the pregnancy. This is just crap. If you’re being abused at home, you know that if you tell a judge, officials are going to have to intervene somehow. You’re risking your whole world being turned upside down. Besides, the idea of going in front of a judge is terrifying to anyone—let alone a scared, pregnant, abused teen!
As scary as it is, some teens don’t even have that option. Republican Senator Chris Buttars of Utah recently tried to defend a bill that would get rid of the judicial-bypass option—even for victims of incest. But you have to love that he didn’t even deny his real motives. Senator Buttars said, “Abortion isn’t about women’s rights. The rights they had were when they made the decision to have sex. . . . This is the consequence. The consequence is they should have to talk to their parents.” 10 Even if your parent is the one who got you pregnant. Love that logic. (The consequence of having the last name Buttars is apparently being a huge asshole. Appropriate.)
The bottom line is, these laws are not about keeping teen girls safe. They’re about controlling them. Apparently we’re too naive to decide what to do with our own bodies without permission from a parent or husband. Yeah, you heard right: husband. A lot of these parental involvement laws are only enforceable if the teen is unmarried. So if you’re a married teenager, you can get an abortion. Somehow a sixteen-year-old with a husband is better able to decide if she wants a child?
Once again, just more slut-punishing. If you’re married, it means you’re a good girl. Your prize for not having unmarried sex? Control of your body. You’re single and pregnant? Well, then someone else has to make the decision for you. Sucks for you, slut.
These gross consent laws are starting to trickle down into birth control, too. Like I mentioned before, the irrational fear of Girls Gone Wild has made for quite a difficult time for young women. Some states even require teens to get a written note from their parents just to get birth control. My parents were cool with my being on birth control when I was younger, but I doubt they wanted to know the details. I mean, imagine knowing the intimate details of your mom’s diaphragm. Ew.
A 2006 report showed that 87% of “pregnancy crisis” centers—which have received more than $30 million in federal funding—provided false or misleading information about abortion.
Other states just defy logic. In New York, Governor George Pataki refused to make EC available over the
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