by Gail Robbins
The reproductive liberty amendment Article 22 states the following:
That an individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one’s own life course and shall not be denied or infringed unless justified by a compelling State interest achieved by the least restrictive means.
Questions:
What if your 11-year-old daughter becomes pregnant. Can she have an abortion without your knowledge? From reading this proposal, she has full rights to have an abortion without the parents’ knowledge. That’s a pretty big decision for a little girl to make on her own. What if she takes the RU 486 pill without your knowledge and starts hemorrhaging at home? As her parent/guardian, with this amendment, you may not even know anything about this. This doesn’t seem right to me.
Or what if a 40-year-old known pedophile begins a relationship with your vulnerable 9 year old girl, can you, a parent, intervene? According to this proposal, I believe this young girl has full reproductive autonomy and therefore the parents are excluded.
At what age does this reproductive liberty amendment begin?
Does a 5-year-old little knobby kneed child who is not yet able to read able to determine that they want to begin to take invasive hormonal therapies that will affect them dramatically? Isn’t that – personal reproductive autonomy? Are these therapies effective? Are people happier and better adjusted? Or are the suicide rates higher for this group? I have read that the suicide rates are significantly higher.
Are schools required to inform parents of things observed in the school as it relates to their child’s gender identity? My understanding is that with this resolution/proposal – the schools will not be telling the parents because it is once again personal reproductive autonomy. Meaning that if a young child prefers different pronouns at school, with this resolution/proposal, the schools will not be advising the parents.
From my perspective, no one loves this child like their parents/guardians. They have regularly sacrificed their sleep, their finances, their time and energy caring for and nurturing their children since the day they were born. Why would we ever remove the parents from any and all decisions when a child is underage. No one else know, loves and cares for that child like their parents.
I vote NO!
The author is a Northfield resident.