some other thoughts on the matter from this underdeveloped lefty-brained fella:
it is perfectly okay for reasonable & intelligent people (hey, myself once in a great while included) to wrestle with an issue and admit that they don't quite know which way to go on it. in fact, that's often a quite reasonable response in my book, and not just cause i'm currently afflicted. in the case of this issue, the 'conservative' line seems to be to require parental consent, absolutely. sadly, that stance probably leads a lot of other people to say, well, if cons are for it, then i have to be against it. and i think that line of thinking is all too commonplace (on both 'sides'), and i think it's misplaced and often highly inappropriate. i have met many people who toe their party line all down the line, and just as many who veer wherever their logic and experiences and beliefs take them. do we call them...moderates? wafflers? fence-sitters? who cares, really - the ability to think for oneself is what's paramount. current traditional party lines are far from one-size-fits-all, and i applaud those who can break from political party dogma.
in this case, i would prefer that families be tight enough to share all their individual problems with each other. i would prefer that parents know what's going on. but when a child knows or strongly suspects she will be thrashed, disowned/home-ejected or forced to give (unwanted) birth, i think she's probably better off dealing with it herself. and perhaps at the clinic she'll receive some previously lacking sex ed and be better equipped in the future.
were i her father and i found out, i expect that i would feel a sense of failure and sad distance from my offspring's reality, and i would suffer the knowledge that i had failed to cultivate a father/daughter relationship to the point where my child felt she had to keep something this important from me. but beyond my damaged daddy ego, i would hope that my firm belief that babies shouldn't be having babies would ultimately carry the day as the bottom line, and whatever keeps that from happening is most important. and i would take the opportunity to let her know that she can come to me with anything that is troubling her in her life. and hopefully she would feel that, after such an affecting event, most of the others would be smaller potatoes, and from then on take me up on the offer when needed.
ah, optomism...
the decision my ex and i made, was the right one for us; your mileage may vary.
we are struggling to find and present concrete answers to extremely vexing issues in our lives, and some of our certanties are far from justified. i have seen people say that if someone is an abusive relationship of whatever kind then they should just tell someone, anyone and/or get out! that is such a facile thing to say that it defies comprehension. i worked with sexually/physically/mentally/emotionally abused kids in residential treatment centers for seven intense years, and have friends who were in abusive relationships, and i'm sorry, but it's just a wee tiny bit more complex than just saying to them, hey, get out. that's all i'll say about that.
so how many of our parents sat us down for a good talk about reproduction and sex?
and how many of us with children over the age of 8 or 9 have had this talk with our kids? what are we doing to ensure that this possibility doesn't become a reality in our lives? all castigating or applauding the Florida Supreme Court aside, there's the real issue here.
