Laws allowing for parental involvement are a constitutional means of properly balancing state, family and individual interests. To allow the state to strip the parents of their natural and legal authority to act as father and mother in this instance is to undermine the authority and integrity of the family. New York State currently makes no provisions for parental knowledge, reflection time or consent regarding childrens' abortion decisions. Parents are being denied their right to know. And they are angry.
Parents have no rights.
We could neither demand she give the baby up for adoption, nor insist on an abortion. The choice belongs to the teenage mother, who is still a child herself and far from capable of understanding the lifelong ramifications of whatever choice she makes. If a pregnant teenager's parents are ultimately responsible for the teenager and her baby, then give those parents the right to decide whether or not the teenager keeps her baby. Twelve percent were undecided. Across the state, in each of the eight geographic regions into which Gallup divided the state, the poll found clear support for a parental consent requirement.