[greencreeper]

I got about 7 pages into this thread and I felt the will to live slowly ebbing from me, so I skipped the rest of the thread. Forgive me if I make points already raised.

Aside from an assortment of related but off topic issues, you all seem to be grappling with the weight of rights - does a pregnant teenager's right to confidentiality outweight that of her parents' right to know that she is pregnant and maybe considering an abortion? There are certain medical treatments and conditions, such as sexual health and abortion, that must have absolute confidentiality. Why? Well without confidentiality it makes it less likely that the patient will seek medical help or (worse) professional medical help, possibily endangering their life.

Lisa finds herself pregnant after a one night stand. She views her parents as being very strict and she believes that they would disown her if she admitted to her condition. She's a teenager - she's scared and feeling very much alone, and not thinking rationally. Maybe her parents would understand but that's irrelevant because Lisa firmly believes that they won't. Try and imagine how frightened and alone she feels. Now if the law said that the hospital had to tell her parents before she could have an abortion, do you think Lisa would go for an abortion? Certainly not. The best outcome is that she hides the pregnancy and dumps the baby in a bin. She could go to a midwife or struck-off doctor for an abortion, but that costs money she doesn't have. Online she discovers instructions on how to abort a fetus using a knitting needle or water squirted into the uterus. Thinking that the needle might be risky (and she's right - she could easily pierce the uterine wall and bleed to death or leave herself infertile) Lisa plumps for the water option. Her parents find her dead in bed next morning because the water method forced air into Lisa's bloodstream. Of course her tearful parents will say that Lisa could have come to them and they can't understand it. They won't question the relationship they had with their daughter - a relationship that left Lisa feeling she had no option but to attempt a DIY abortion.

I think parents should also be mindful of the fact that their children spend more time at school than at home. It's understandable that their children are going to raise issues with teachers first and parents (possibly) second.

I do believe that parents should know because anyone after having an abortion needs support and help, and even more so if they decide to keep the baby. But I think pregnant teenagers should be encouraged to talk to their parents, perhaps in a supported environment, and not forced to by law. Confidentiality must be guaranteed.