NEWS: Pregnant Girls Not Human in North Dakota

POLITICS: Pregnant Girls Not Human in North Dakota

Probably the scariest story yet about the extremes of the family values, anti-abortion right: North Dakota's House of Representatives just rejected a bill that would allow pregnant teenagers to see doctors without having to get their parents' permission.

Holeey crap. Could it be any clearer that children--especially girl children--are essentially chattel in the eyes of these people? In ND, kids over 14 can get confidential treatment for addiction or STDs (as they should). But pregnancy, which specifically affects only girls? Nope.

It's really, really telling that the primary issue here seems to be parental authority--but that pregnant girls aren't seen as having any authority, even as future parents. And that the sole regret lawmakers seem willing to address is the effect that a lack of medical care might have on the fetus, rather than the pregnant girl herself:

For paying the bills?!?! Wow. Is this enough evidence that the "who's gonna pay for it?" philosophy of politics has gone too far? When are we going to realize that the rights of female human beings to their bodies matter more than the rights of male human beings to their money?

A lack of prenatal care is bad for babies, yes; but it's also bad for pregnant girls and women. Ectopic pregnancies, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia (pregnancy-induced high blood pressure), and dangerous miscarriages are all killers, and none of them are uncommon. And what if a pregnant girl shows up in the e.r. after being hit by a car, or beaten by her boyfriend or parents? Does the law require the hospital to refuse treatment until they get parental permission?

But I guess if girls don't respect the authoritah of the patriarchy, then they deserve to risk death.

Scary.

Bitch_PhD wonders how long it'll be before we allow honor killings of girls who have disgraced their families by daring to act as if they had rights.

So much for the "culture of life", eh?

Jesus made it very clear that the culture of life, the foundational doctrine for his preachings and life, applied only to men, most commonly white men.

Men impregnate women, and men unimpregnate them, when and how we see fit. I for one can't wait for Missouri to pass their 12-month pregnancy law, requiring women to stay pregnant for 3 additional months and finally bringing us one step closer to ridding the world of these paganistic partial-year births.

Ahem. South Dakota recently banned abortion... for nearly any reason. I didn't expect anything more from the Dakota's.

All it does it make me really happy that I live in the North East which is also where I plan to have my children.


and it also makes me really really sad. My one friend in high school lost her first baby, after her mother literally beat the shit out of her, tossed her down 2 flights of steps and left her in the house. She would have died, had her boyfriend not gone to see her and taken her to the hospital. At 15, you really shouldn't be forced to see the remains of your unborn child on the floor. So much for parents and 'who pays the bills'...

The worst aspect of this is the fact that there are going to be countless parents who refuse to let their children seek medical care because of the "poor choices" that their children "will just have to live with" because they "should have thought about that before they got pregnant".

The children that are smart enough to seek care should not be denied care. That's just how things should work...it's unfortunate that it doesn't.

Wrong. White men run the church and this is how they interpret the Bible. I believe Jesus stopped a group of people from stoning a prostitute. If Jesus had such low opinion of women, why did he appear to his mother and female friend FIRST, and not his male disciples?

Of all the people who have ever existed I don't believe Jesus had any pretentious beliefs. His core value was to treat others as you'd wish to be treated. Remember, Jesus didn't hang out with the high prophets, he helped the poor, the mistreated and the fucked by common society.

Sorry for the biblical rant... Current Christianity burns me up, with all the hypocrisy running rampant through the pews. With people shouting bible verses, that they haven't even studied...

I REALLY hope that in the case of your friend, her mom was charged with SOMETHING! (Manslaughter, murder, attempted murder....anything???)

Wow, your headline is not in the least bit inflammatory or misleading, and the text is nowhere near reactionary.

(BTW- I'm in support of private abortions & STD treatments for 14 & up (depending). Younger than that is unassailably a child. Legally, a parent can be held responsible for children's actions until they're 18, so the parent should therefore be the final arbiter. If you don't like it, change the law to make kids legally adults. But to automatically draw a line between responsibility and chattel is ignorant at best, reactionary at worst. I would lean towards the latter, since the emotion in your words belie some underlying issues you may want to work on. Anyway, this is not "NEWS:" This is an editorial, and a poorly written & conceived one at that.)

eww
typical

Well, really, in my opinion under eighteens shouldn't be having sex at all. That's my opinion though and yes, a lot of people will disagree. I think the girls should be able to get help without going through their parents, BUT I think they should be strongly advised to talk to Mum and Dad about it. That's um, what they're there for. It's terrible that we have a culture where people are afraid to turn to their parents for things.

If indeed their parents would do whatever kind of harm to their daughter upon finding out what she's been up to, then they shouldn't have parental responsibility for her at all? At least, that's how the care system works as far as I understand it. Hey I'm probably wrong.

Does pregnancy only happen to girls? Funny but I thought you had to have a boy to make a baby too.

advising a pregnant teen to tell her parents is one thing.

putting a legal roadblock between said teen and a doctor is an entirely different story.

and obviously a man is involved in conception, but you're missing the point that the guy always has the option to walk away, whereas the girl is stuck with a much heavier (literally) burden.

horrible to hear that. And I sure hope I'm not the only one to think it's all starting to come down to money. It's like who cares about the girls and their babies, unless there's someone willing to pay. I think I'm starting to like the fact I'm a guy and the fact I get free (even if kinda sucky at times) medical care.

everyone knows there is no male presence in a teenage pregnancy.

Men don't have to go to the doctor for prenatal care, thus this legislation doesn't affect them.

Fortunately, I dont think hospitals in ND refuse treatment to people in imaginary life and death situations, like male dragon attacks, for example.

And that's the problem here. I can understand why lawmakers feel that the parents of young teens should be involved in providing guidance, especially when the kid's in trouble. The problem is that often those kids who are most at risk for these types of behaviors (drugs, booze, STD's, pregnancy) come from the worst families. Involving crappy parents only makes matters worse - for the kid and for society.

This part doesn't make sense from either side. If the girl is seeing the doctor without her parent's knowledge, then they're not paying for it. (Not unless she's stealing from them with impressive secrecy.) How is this stupid, stupid law protecting the finances of males in any way?

wow thats kewl brb

Well, you're right--the paying the bills thing is nonsense (which is kind of my point). Nonetheless, Representative Ruby seems to think that parental authority and paying the bills are linked. The fact that they're not makes it all the more telling that he's dragging the money thing in. In Ye Olde Traditional Family, just *which* parent is it that pays the bills? Daddy. Hmmmmm.

You were the one who made that inference.

And it totally undermines your point, btw

Nope. My friend left home, finished high school, and had another child. Her mother... didn't really care. She's in community college now and working.

Ugh, I was born in that state. I liked it better when the only thing I knew about it was that the winter weather could kill cars. I suppose the fact that the doctors snipped my doohicky when I was a baby should have told me something... but then, you can't miss a foreskin you don't remember having.

When ever you bring up teen pregnancy there is always this rash reaction but I think we are missing the bigger picture. At what point do minors get to decide medical treatment for themselves.

Should a 7 year old or their parents get to decide if they are going to have a risky open heart operation? I would assume the answer to this would be fairly simple that the parents would have to make the choice given the 7 year old can't really comprehend the possible outcomes.

Now when you move on to teens that seems to be when things get mucked up. But the fact is you can't just arbitrarily choose procedures you think minors don't need parental consent for. To me it is kind of an all or none deal. And If teens don't need consent for anything then why even have them defined legally as minors at all.

It sucks that some parents might misuse their authority to try to punish what they consider their morally abject children. However there are legal means to deal with these issues such as the state taking custody of the minor to give doctor recommend medical care or for the minor to seek emancipation so they can legally make the decisions on their own.

All being said I am somewhat open to lowering the age to which minors become adults.

dude, this is one of the most fucked up things ever. people are fucking morons. we should send them all to an island were they can only fuck up their own lives and not ruin everyone else's. of course, they probly think that maybe we should just send pregnant teenagers to an island....sluts!