Parental Consent for Abortions
Thank you for so clearly stating the problems with Senate Bill 7 in your editorial, and the reason why it, and any bill like it, should be defeated and never heard from again.
Having taught classes for parents on how to talk with children about sexuality, I advocate parent-child communication. And, one of the most important things I teach is that caring family relationships and good communication do not happen overnight--they are built with time.
Parents who begin a dialogue with young children about such sensitive issues as sexuality open lines of communication that stay open when those children become teen-agers. Those teens do involve their parents in their decisions. Those who don’t care are often in troubled family situations that would not be helped by involving the parents in the decision about an unwanted pregnancy.
In other words, creating parent-child trust takes a lifetime of love, not a law. SB 7 should be scrapped in favor of bills that take a more constructive approach.
KRISTEN MONTGOMERY
Marina del Rey
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