I'm not sure a "right to parent" is at issue here-- it seems to be a "right to stop your child's abortion."

Right to weigh in, right to guide, right to encourage, right to support, right to discuss, right to parent. Right to stop? I wouldn't support that.

Pardon my ignorance, but does parental notification also mean parental consent?

My rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ought to extend to not having my government help my children go behind my back, right when they need it most.

I think I see what you're saying here, at least as well as a non-parent can. But I have to wonder if the children's rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness aren't also an issue here. If the kid can't or won't go to the parent(s) to discuss birth control before getting pregnant, I don't see where discussing an abortion would be any easier. And the non-legal ways for a teenager (or any woman, really) getting an abortion seem more harmful to me than getting the abortion without parental support.

hate the stereotype of Planned Parenthood as some kind of drive-through abortion Wal-Mart. They offer counseling, they offer adoption services, they offer prenatal care.

I wasn't phrasing myself well, Jessica -- I do know all that. What I meant was that in situations of rape and incest, the pregnancy is only a tiny part of the problem. No matter what choice a girl makes, she needs more help than either an abortion or "Jesus will care for you and your baby." And I hope that the people she goes to for help would recognize that. It's less about what Planned Parenthood offers and more a sort of meta-recognition that there isn't a wonder drug in that situation.

If that makes sense.

Pardon my ignorance, but does parental notification also mean parental consent?

I believe often, but not always.

Seriously? Huh.

Yeah, wacky to me, too. Although now I'm entertained by the mental image of a teacher trying to confiscate my Midol.

In my high school, it was detention if you got caught with any medication, OTC or not.

They had this on the books at my high school, but when they had to call an ambulance for the kid who passed out having an asthma attack because he'd followed the rules and his inhaler was locked in the nurse's office and they couldn't find the nurse or a key....well, they kinda started looking the other way.

Of course, even while they had stuck to the rules, there was a fair amount of dealing going on, prescription and not.

when they had to call an ambulance for the kid who passed out having an asthma attack because he'd followed the rules and his inhaler was locked in the nurse's office and they couldn't find the nurse or a key..

Wow. This sounds like it would be lawsuit city.

But if a 17 year old gets pregnant and decides to keep the baby, there's not a thing her parents or anyone else can do to stop it, regardless of the maturity level, legal aspects, etc.

You mean like force an abortion against the minor's will?

when they had to call an ambulance for the kid who passed out having an asthma attack because he'd followed the rules and his inhaler was locked in the nurse's office and they couldn't find the nurse or a key..

Good lord.

So, someone I don't know just came in and asked if she could use the phone in "my" office, so of course I said yes, but now I feel that I should seem much more work-like and type-y.

I suppose I could actually work, but where's the fun in that?

I hate the fact that girls have to face these issues while the boys who helped conceive the child can go on their merry way. I think that's another reason why I support the no parental piece. Girls will automatically have the emotional fall out of a pregnancy and abortion. Must they also face the fall out of sharing this information if they don't want to? The boys have none of the above unless they choose to (and, yes, I know some do).