Quote Originally Posted by fantassy
You raise an interesting, very complex issue of age of consent. I assume you feel that the parents of a girl age 16 should be the only one's allowed to consent for her? How do address the connundrum of who will raise and support the child of a 17 year old girl who was forced to have the baby against her will? The girl's parents don't have any legal obligation to support the baby. What about when the girl is 18, unable to support herself or the now 2 year old child she didn't want because she was forced to stop her education because of a decision her parents made. The 18 year old IS legally obligated to support this child. I'm also assuming you wouldn't allow the 16 year old to consent to adoption without parental consent either? So basically the 16 year old is forced to raise a baby she doesn't want for 2 years and we're going to criminally sanction her if she abuses or neglects that baby. That doesn't seem right to me. I have to go with the argument that if a girl is old enough to consent to having sex she is old enough to consent to having an abortion, which is where I believe the age of 16 is derived. But, as I said, it is a very difficult, complex issue.



Ok, I'm going to give you my cynical response to this question - the only way to influence legislators is through money or publicity, which is why I get soooo angry over the media's abdication of their responsibility to investigate and report on the government. Instead, every TV station reports the same fluff.

fantassy

I guess you assume I am anti-abortion. In all actuality, I am pro-choice. The questions I had raised, are questions we must ask when considering legislation.

As far as your cynical response, my question was retorical.

Thanks for the imput though, you also brough very good points.