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Teen abortion 'right to know' bid Teen abortion 'right to know' bid
(about 5 hours later)
A bid to allow parents the right to know if girls are having abortions will be launched by a Conservative MP later. Parents should be told if under-age girls are given advice on contraception or abortion, to help them with "very serious" decisions, says a Tory MP.
Angela Watkinson MP said parents should know if under-16s have an abortion or are given contraception to help them protect their children. Sex education is currently based on information about contraception, but what children need is more advice and guidance, argues Angela Watkinson.
About 4,000 under-16s a year have abortions in England and Wales.
Similar laws in the US are said to have resulted in a 15 to 20% drop in abortion rates for minors.Similar laws in the US are said to have resulted in a 15 to 20% drop in abortion rates for minors.
Last year a mother from Manchester lost her High Court bid to stop girls being given confidential abortion advice. Mrs Watkinson said that the whole premise of sex education was wrong.
Ms Watkinson argued that the government's teenage pregnancy strategy was not deterring under-16s from having sex. 'Quite illogical'
'No idea whatsoever' "Very young children are bombarded with information about sex, information about contraception and then an assumption is made that they are going to make wise decisions with this information," she said.
"As things stand, many parents have no idea whatsoever that their children are being provided with contraception or abortion," she said. She said this was "quite illogical", and said the decision to have an abortion was "far too serious... for a very young girl to reach on her own, or with the advice of a stranger."
"The first thing they learn may be when their children are reported to have some form of sexually transmitted disease." Noting a report that suggested 40% of UK children aged under 16 were sexually active, she said many girls were "lulled into a false sense of security" by the emphasis on contraception - when in fact condoms often failed.
The Upminster MP will present her Contraception and Abortion (Parental Information) Bill to Parliament on Wednesday. I feel very strongly parents ought to be involved in these very serious life-changing decisions Angela Watkinson
Seven US states enforced parental involvement laws for abortion in 1984 - now more than 30 enforce them. Mrs Watkinson will present her Contraception and Abortion (Parental Information) Bill to the Commons on Wednesday.
'Back street' abortions It is a Ten Minute Rule Bill which means it is unlikely to become law, but Mrs Watkinson hopes it will publicise the issue more widely.
Professor David Paton, of Nottingham University, said legal systems requiring parents to be told before an abortion is performed on an under-age girl, had resulted in a drop in pregnancy, abortion and sexually transmitted diseases. She said she wanted parents to be informed of any advice on contraception and abortions - although they would not be allowed to impose their decision on the child.
He said there was no evidence to suggest that in the US, under-age girls had turned to "back street abortionists" as a result. Gillick ruling
"I feel very strongly parents ought to be involved in these very serious life-changing decisions," she said.
At a press conference on Tuesday, she was backed by two experts who argued that scrapping confidential advice for the under-16s would not lead more to have unprotected sex.
Professor David Paton, of Nottingham University Business School, said the only statistics available showed that had not happened.
We don't stand a snowball's chance of the teenage pregnancy targets being met Dr Trevor Stammers
He pointed to the UK's Gillick ruling of 1984, which banned the provision of contraceptives to under-16s without the parent's involvement - but was overturned a year later.
Visits to family planning clinics had dropped during that year, but the number of pregnancies among under 16s had remained stable, he said - something partly explained by fewer minors choosing to have sex.
Putting aside the moral arguments about the parents' right to know, the evidence was "very clear" that the laws led to fewer abortions, pregnancies and possibly sexually transmitted diseases among teens, he said.
Sexual health
The government wants to halve the conception rate in under-18s in England by 2010.The government wants to halve the conception rate in under-18s in England by 2010.
Recent Office for National Statistics figures suggest that the overall conception rate in under 18s remained virtually stable from 42,198 in 2004 to 42,187 in 2005. But Dr Trevor Stammers, a GP and senior tutor at St George's, University of London, said he believed sexual health was "rapidly declining".
But there has been a 4% rise in the number of under-16s falling pregnant - increasing from 7,615 pregnancies in 2004 to 7,917 in 2005. "We don't stand a snowball's chance of the teenage pregnancy targets being met," he said.
Last year Sue Axon, from Manchester, tried to get the law changed on a parent's right to know if their under-age daughters were being advised on abortion. He said many doctors had been "conditioned" to act as providers of contraception, and some GPs were frightened of being sued if they did not provide the pill to minors.
Mrs Axon said she brought the case because she regretted having an abortion 20 years earlier that had brought her guilt and depression. He said it was a "lie" to tell youngsters that as long as they used a condom "you will be all right" and said up to 80% of unplanned pregnancies were due to failed contraception.
But the High Court rejected a review of guidelines that terminations do not need parents' consent and doctors should respect girls' confidentiality. And he said that the proposed bill was "the only way forward if we really do mean business about improving the sexual health of young people".
Judge Mr Justice Silber said Mrs Axon, or any other parent, had no right to know unless the child decided otherwise. Seven US states enforced parental involvement laws for abortion in 1984 - now more than 30 enforce them.