"For the most part though, we're not talking about 11 year olds getting pregnant because of a lack of parental involvement."

I would be curious how many 11 year olds had abortions in Florida last year. That would certainly seem a horrific set of circumstances. Why do you think we're talking about 11 year olds in this instance Kevin? 

 "You can't say that because a minor goes out and gets pregnant, there was a lack of parental involvement.  In some case that may well be true."  

Wait a second here, in the first sentence you say I can't say it, then in the second sentence you do say it. So which is it? Can I say it's a lack of parental involvement or can't I? You can't blame minors getting pregnant on the school system, on politicians, on the weather, or is it the big 'S' word society? Can you blame it on the minor? Can you blame it on the minors parents, who should be the ones held most responsible for the childs welfare? I certainly think so. See this is one of the huge problems with this issue. You want the government to intervene where the parents didn't. That makes zero sense to me. The government has no business dealing with this issue in my perspective. I certainly think a parent should be involved when a minor wants or needs an abortion. But if the parent is a piece of human refuse, what then? The ball was dropped long before the child got pregnant in most cases. Who's fault is that? What about the doctor's take on this? What exactly would happen when an 11 or 12 year old walked in to ask for an abortion? They just say, "Jump right up here on the table kiddie and we'll go to work!"...is it even legal for a child to sign the clinic or hospital waiver in the event that something goes wrong?   

"We're talking about excluding parent's from a decision which parent's have every right and obligation to be a part of.  The state should not be taking that away."

No we're not talking about that at all. A decent parent would be involved whether it was mandated by the state or not. If parents are teaching their children love, trust, respect, where to turn in a time of need, the state never comes into play and the child would turn to her parents because she'd know that's the place to go. When do we start requesting legislation for "Good Parenting"? That would seem to be the problem, not abortion rights. The fact is there's a boatload of kids not getting any sort of decent parenting. When it gets to the abortion part we've already blown it.  

"It's an absurd decision especially when you contrast it against the need for parental approval for medications dispensed by the school nurse."

It's not absurd. It's sad we're dealing with it I'll give you that but absurd, I don't think so. Legislation should not be bent to make room for people's moral imperatives. I don't like the idea of a child going to get an abortion without a parent by her side but I don't think government was ever intended to solve these issues for us.

"So now we've got schools giving out condoms and providing access to abortions in the name of liberalness.  What's next?"

It's not the schools and this is not a question of "liberalness". I would never want to see a young girl go off to get an abortion on her own. The first line and best line of defense for this is Mom or Dad or a combination thereof. They need to be there, to have taught this little girl that they are there so she goes to them. It's unfortunate that there are so many little girls without this option. That's what's absurd. You're comment about "liberalness" shows you've already bought into the politicizing of this issue. You're not at the heart of the problem with that though.

                                               Reg