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of Parental Consent for Abortion Bill in 79th Legislative Session
Restore Parents' Rights To Protect Our Daughters
Support A Parental Consent Law For Minors' Abortions
Click here to sign the petition for parents' rights!Did you know that abortion providers in 2002 performed more than 3,400 abortions on young girls in Texas?* In none of these cases did the parents have a right to object to the abortion. That's because Texas does not have a pa
rental consent law.
Texas law does not require doctors to obtain parental consent before performing an abortion on a minor. Yet, virtually all other medical procedures require a parent’s consent. Parental consent is required for a minor to get her ears, tongue, or navel pierced. A school nurse must get a parent’s permission to dispense aspirin to their child.
Why should a major medical procedure such as abortion be an exception?
Parental Consent Law Restores Parents' Rights
= Parental consent gives parents the right to stop an abortion provider from performing surgery on their minor daughter.
= Parental consent will continue the decrease in abortion, pregnancy, and birth rates for minors, as seen in Texas and other states with similar parental involvement laws.
= Parental consent will protect minors from continued sexual exploitation by adult male predators. Studies reveal that half of the births to girls 15-17 nationwide are fathered by adult men age 20 years old or older.** Increasing parental involvement in the lives of pregnant teens may expose sexual predators that exploit minors. A parental consent law will act as a deterrent to sexual predators.
Parental Consent Law Protects Children by Reducing Fraud
Currently, Texas law requires abortion providers to notify parents when their child intends to have an abortion. However this law is inherently open to loopholes and fraud. Parental notification by phone may never reach a parent or guardian because they can be left on an answering machine or given to the wrong person. Notification by mail may never reach a parent because it may be sent to the wrong address. There is no way of knowing whether a parent is notified. This loophole circumvents the entire purpose of the law. It cheats parents out of their basic right to know about the health of their minor daughters.
= Without a parental consent law, parents cannot stop abortion providers from performing abortions on their daughters.
= Parental consent requirements ensure that parents are involved as required by law.
= Requires abortion provider to obtain written affidavit and proof of ID to verify identity of the parent.
= A written affidavit is a binding legal document and forgery is subject to serious fines and penalties under Texas law.
Texans Overwhelmingly Support a Parental Consent Law in TexasAccording to a recent Scripps-Howard poll, 81 percent of adult Texans support the adoption of a parental consent bill in Texas.
Poll Question: "How much do you favor or oppose a state law requiring parental consent for abortions performed on minors?" The poll surveyed 1,000 adult Texans. Conducted Oct. 11-14, 2004. Margin of error is +/- 3%.
Click here for more details of the poll. (pdf file)*Texas Department of Health, 2002 Annual Report, Texas Vital Statistics. (Number of abortions performed on girls age 17 or younger.)
**Child Trends, Inc. FACTS AT A GLANCE. Washington, DC: Child Trends, Inc., 1996
For more information or to help pass a parental consent bill, please contact us at info@texasallianceforlife.org.Click here for latest news release.
