A 14 year old girl provoked widespread controversy last week
by having an abortion, without the knowledge of her parents, only
to change her mind when it was already too late. She had agreed
to have the abortion after speaking to a school health worker. Maureen Smith, the girl’s mother, was distraught after
discoverring the truth. She believes her daughter did not tell
her that she was pregnant because “she was frightened and
felt that she had let me down”. According to her, Melissa
changed her mind after realizing the support she would receive
from her family and had been “talked into having an
abortion” despite “not believing in one”. Health workers are required by law to keep all patient
information confidential, even if they are minors. Teachers are
also not legally bound to reveal the details of pregnancies and
are advised to seek the consent of pupils involved. Opinion is bitterly divided over whether policy should change
to allow for the future support and reassurance to be taken into
account when making a decision or if confidentiality is crucial
in providing an avenue through which teenagers can seek help.
Maureen believes the current policy is wholly contradictory
considering her daughter “requires my consent to get her
appendix removed”. The government’s policies of distributing the morning
after pill in schools and allowing girls to have hormonal
contraceptives lasting up to three years inserted in their arms
has already come under fire. A recent report from the University
of Nottingham report showed that such measures, far from stemming
pregnancies had actually led to their increase.ARCHIVE: 3rd week TT 2004
14 year old regrets abortion
