It fosters family unity and preserves the family as a viable social unit, while protecting children from their lack of experience. The question is not simply maturity, it is also one of responsibility. As long as a teenager is not emancipated, her parents are responsible for her upbringing and medical care. When a teen is injured by abortion, the parent gets the bill for the follow-up care, not to mention the anguish of healing their daughter's psychological scars. If doctors can exclude parents from major events in their minor daughter's lives which may have long-term consequences, the job of parenting will be much more difficult.
Abortion is significant surgery.
It involves innocent life, and is irreversible. Parents need to know when surgery is performed on their daughters, so the parent can watch for physical and mental complications, such as infection and depression. Both of these can be life-threatening. Teens have experienced serious complications and death from legal abortion in Florida. The doctor, no matter how compassionate, is not responsible for the mental health of the young patient.