An unnamed official acknowledged that some girls who do not want their parents to know they are pregnant get abortions from illegal private hospitals that do not require parental notification for the procedure.
"Many girls don't care about abortion and view it as harmless. Some of them choose to use a drug to abort an unwanted pregnancy to avoid letting others know. This is a serious social issue that needs more public discussion," said Cheng Xiaomei, a social worker for a hotline that provides counseling services for pregnant teenagers.
Just because abortion is legal doesn't mean that the abortion clinic at which one seeks the procedure is medically sound. I know that Western health systems are very good as far as hygiene and professionalism is concerned. But again and again, abortion clinics have been cited for health code violations in the United States.
I have never seen such issues in Canada-- although a recent Ottawa abortionist was cited for medical incompetence.
A girl who goes into the abortion procedure on her own is often not intellectually equipped to make such judgements.
You might be saying: such judgements are luxuries for girls who want an abortion NOW and have found only one accessible source.
But doesn't that bring up the whole coathanger argument, which was that women should not be forced to get substandard medical "care" just to get an abortion?
In other words: just because a woman wants to stick the coathanger up her crotch in the name of autonomy, should we let her?
If not, then why should we not get parents involved when it comes to healthcare?
Oh right, we have to respect the maxim of "trust women"-- even girls who are unequiped to deal with their own situation.
Trust women, but don't trust parents, say feminists.
Given that mothers tend to be the ones most involved in these matters, doesn't that undermine faith in women's judgement?
