Resolved: Adolescents ought to have the right to make autonomous medical choices.

I negate; Resolved: adolescents ought to have the right to make autonomous medical choices. I will set up some framework, then move on to my contentions. Framework: This debate will be evaluated on who best upholds life. So if I can prove that more people are kept alive in the con world than are kept alive in the pro world, I should win this debate. Contention One: Adolescents don"t have as good a knowledge of what is best for the family as do their parents/guardians. The adolescent often has no knowledge of the family finances, and so should defer to those who do. If adolescents make their own medical decisions, they may choose to have a procedure done that the family is unable to pay for, which would put the whole family into debt and cause them to be unable to pay for something that could keep them alive. Even if the adolescent paid for the medical procedure, it could result in health problems that the adolescent couldn't pay to solve, and that would either kill them (bad) or result in the family paying and being unable to keep themselves alive (bad). Adolescents do not pay for their health care or their health insurance, and the people who do should make those decisions. Medical is defined, again, as "of or relating to the science of medicine, or the treatment of illness or injury. " Looking at the first part of the definition, the science of medicine could include unneeded procedures such as tattoos, piercings, and cosmetic surgeries such as breast enhancements. If the adolescent"s family hardly has enough money for food, as many families in America do today, then how should the family be able to pay for these "optional" operations? Just because the adolescent shouldn"t have the operation done if they can"t pay for it legally doesn"t mean they won"t find illegitimate means to pay, such as stealing from parents. Teens are notorious for being irresponsible, whereas parents can be trusted to make the best possible choice for their child. This is because teens" brains are transitioning from a child"s brain into that of an adult, and the emotional amygdale changes before the frontal lobe, which keeps emotions in check, leading to an imbalance. The imbalance forces that teens, in general, are impulsive and irresponsible because it is harder than usual to avoid acting on emotion, even when that would be foolish to do so. Contention Two: Not all teens have the brain capacity to make good choices, so they would be best off if adults made choices for them. The brains of adolescents are not as developed as those of adults, and consequently will not be able to make decisions as well as adults. Research from Temple University states that the brain is not done maturing until well into adulthood. Because of that, the adults should make decisions for their teens. Adolescents are often rebellious, and if they had the right to run off and spite their parents by getting tattoos, piercings, or cosmetic surgery, they might be content at the time but regret it in the future when they are unable to get a job, have a child, or be taken seriously. The parent has already gone through all those things and know what enhancements will hinder the ability to do them well. For example, doctors are often forbidden to have tattoos on their faces because that might scare the patients. Because teens don't have knowledge of the family finances, and their brains are not fully mature, granting adolescents the right to make autonomous medical choices would not allow for as much preservation of life than exists in the status quo, and thus should not be done.