An appeals court in Indiana on Tuesday upheld the decision of a lower court to block a portion of a 2017 state law aimed at ensuring parents are informed when underage daughters undergo abortions. The ruling was issued in a 2-1 vote.
Under Indiana law, teens must get parental consent when undergoing abortions, however, teens can petition a judge for a “judicial bypass.” What this means is a judge can rule that a teen is mature enough to make the decision to abort. In 2017, Governor Eric Holcomb signed into law Senate Enrolled Act 404, which says that parents are still to be notified if the judge approves a teenage girl’s petition.
Attorney General Curtis Hill denounced the initial ruling in 2018 to block the parental notification part of the law, calling it “an attempt to give courts rather than parents the legal guardianship of children.”
As expected, Planned Parenthood celebrated the ruling. Betty Cockrum, president of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, said in 2018 of the first ruling that it was a win for “young women here in Indiana who are already dealing with an incredibly difficult situation.”
But the fact that these girls are in “an incredibly difficult situation” is exactly why their parents or guardians should be made aware of the abortion. Abortion is a dangerous procedure with major risks increasing as the pregnancy advances. If a girl undergoes an abortion and experiences complications at home, her parents would not be aware of why their daughter is suffering and would not be able to communicate the necessary information to paramedics or ER doctors. In addition, if a girl is being abused and her abuser takes her for an abortion, her parents would be unable to help her escape the abuse.
Planned Parenthood would have us believe that every teenage girl who seeks an abortion has abusive parents at home who would act in a threatening manner if they learned their daughter was pregnant. This is how Planned Parenthood makes money — by convincing children and teens that Planned Parenthood staffers — not parents — are the ones to turn to in an unplanned pregnancy. Let’s be real. Most teens think their parents are oblivious and don’t understand what it’s like to be a teenager. Of course, this isn’t true. But Planned Parenthood plays on those teen emotions, and creates an even bigger divide between parents and children through their sex-ed programs and their teen-centered advertising. They give them birth control and send them on their way knowing that when those girls become pregnant they will come back to the “trusted” Planned Parenthood staff… which will then sell them an abortion.
While some teenage girls may be engaging in sex with their same age boyfriends, some are being abused by older men. Some are being abused by coaches, teachers, or family members. When girls become pregnant, Planned Parenthood is required by law to report it. Yet even when girls have informed Planned Parenthood staff that they were being raped, Planned Parenthood did nothing about it. They have instead taken the money for the abortions and sent girls back to their abusers.
Tuesday’s ruling said that notifying parents of teen girl’s abortion places an “undue burden” on the teenager. In reality, it places an unwanted “burden” on Planned Parenthood to go through what they call the “hassle” of reporting cases of known or suspected rape. These teenage girls are in need of guidance and support, and are instead given birth control and abortions that could leave them with the lifelong burden of knowing they took part in their children’s deaths. Planned Parenthood isn’t looking to protect girls by working to block parental notification laws. They are looking to protect themselves.
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