Standards of Care

Calif. Holds Tanning Salons to Higher Standards Than Abortionists

Despite the fact that parents generally have the best interests of their children in mind and they are legally liable for any costs or complications resulting from their minor daughter's abortion, the state of California does not require them to be notified. Yet, the state requires not only parental notification but parental consent for a minor age 14 to 18 to use a tanning bed. A minor under the age of 14 cannot use a tanning bed under any circumstance, but she can have an abortion without telling her parents.

The article goes on to tell individual stories:

Diana Lopez received a call on July 30, 2004 from her 13-year old daughter's school that she had been taken to the hospital because she was bleeding. As it turns out, her daughter's boyfriend’s mother took the child to an abortion clinic in downtown San Diego. By the time Diana reached the clinic, the clinic staff would not allow her to see or be with her own daughter. In fact, the clinic threatened to call the police.

Bill and Georganne, each parents of 15-year old daughters who’d had abortions, found out well after the procedures. But they got to pick up the pieces. Each called into the Roger Hedgecock radio talk show in San Diego to tell their experiences. Georganne's daughter became an alcoholic shortly after she had an abortion without telling her parents. Five years later, alcoholism claimed her life. Bill found out about his daughter's abortion when he came home and found that she'd overdosed in an attempt to commit suicide. Fortunately, he was able to get her to the hospital in time to save her. The father of her baby was her 33-year old karate instructor who had threatened her if she told anyone about her pregnancy and subsequent abortion.

Anecdotes can move your heart, but how representative are these cases?

A 1995 study published in Lancet surveyed 46,000 pregnancies of minor girls in California. The researchers found that 71 percent - about 33,000 - were fathered by adult men who were an average age of 22.6 years old. The study also revealed that men 25 and older father more children among minor girls than do boys under the age of 18.

Another study published in a 1999 issue of the American Pediatrics journal showed that 74 percent of all girls who were under the age of 14 at first intercourse did not have voluntary intercourse. For girls under age 15, the percentage was 60 percent.

California has been pandering to predators for too long, and young girls have been paying the price.