Financial Responsibilty and Teen Parents

**amykhar** · #1 07-23-2001, 05:26 PM

Hypothetical case: A teenage girl becomes pregnant, and wants to have an abortion. However, in her state, parental consent is required, and her parents refuse to allow it.

Should the girl's PARENTS be held financially responsible for the child and not the teen mother? (The teen is not voluntarily assuming the responsibility of the child - the parents are forcing her into it by not allowing the abortion.)

Why or why not?

Amy

poseidon · #2 07-23-2001, 05:31 PM

Where's the father in all this?

**amykhar** · #3 07-23-2001, 05:38 PM

The father issue could be handled in 3 ways.

a) He didn't want the baby either, and his attempt to finance the abortion were thwarted by the girl's parents.

b) He's gone - skipped town.

c) He is only responsible for 50% of the child's expenses. The mother is responsbile for the other half. Could she get her half from her parents?

Amy

erik_kosberg · #4 07-23-2001, 05:42 PM

Quote:

parental consent is required

I might be wrong, but I think that in states that have such laws, consent is usually needed from parents or a judge. Get hypothetical permission from a judge.

KateTPZ · #5 07-23-2001, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by amykhar
Should the girl's PARENTS be held financially responsible for the child and not the teen mother? (The teen is not voluntarily assuming the responsibility of the child - the parents are forcing her into it by not allowing the abortion.)

Why or why not?

Amy

Unless this girl was a victim of rape, the parents aren't forcing her to do anything other than face the consequences of her actions. Did they force her to have sex? Did they force her to have sex without adequate birth control? No, the parents shouldn't be held financially responsible for the child of the teen. She and the sperm-donor should be responsible.

mnehr · #6 07-23-2001, 05:47 PM

Quote:

The teen is not voluntarily assuming the responsibility of the child

Didn't the teen hypothetically voluntarily assume the actions that caused the situation in the first place????

**amykhar** · #7 07-23-2001, 05:52 PM

An adult woman would have a choice as to whether or not to carry the baby and assume financial responsibility for it.

However, the teen girl is not being given the same choice. (Unless she gets a judge to intervene - which is another debate in itself).

If I were to get pregnant today, I would legally have a choice as to whether or not to have the child. (I must confess that morally I have no choice - I couldn't have an abortion and look myself in the mirror again.)

Amy

mnehr · #8 07-23-2001, 05:57 PM

Quote:

However, the teen girl is not being given the same choice

But she is given the choice.. she has the choice to be in the situation that causes this responsibility to arise...
There should be no mystery how it happened...

**amykhar** · #9 07-23-2001, 05:59 PM

Matthew, my point is that an adult woman is given TWO choices a) whether or not to have sex, and b) what to do about the consequences. The teen does not have the same options for choice b.

Amy

mnehr · #10 07-23-2001, 06:10 PM

I hate to sound cold but life is not fair... I just have an issue with people not taking responsibility for their actions.. they always look to others or to the system for 'blame' instead of saying 'I got myself into this situation, I should take responsibility.' All of the time she is talking about how 'unfair' it is, (hypothetically of course), she could be looking for ways to raise her child..

Is it fair that her parents do not have a say so in their child's life? Would it be fair to ask the law to superscede the parents wishes in this case, whe the parents are still legally responsible for the child? Is it fair for the child's opinion of 'fairness' to superscede the wishes of her parents, who, by all legal account, responsible for her?

As it was pointed out, she does have a choice in going to a judge also.. yes it is more work, but she is just a teenager.. it may not be fair, but it is life..

**conradd** · #11 07-23-2001, 06:16 PM

Health insurance coverage laws vary from state to state, but the teen's medical care would almost certainly be covered under the paren'ts group health plan (assuming they have one). Currently, about 30 states have parental consent laws in place. However, the teen doesn't need her parent's consent to place the child for adoption. If the teen truly doesn't want the child, it should be placed for adoption and the adoptive parents would pick up medical care costs that are incurred from birth onwards.

Also, most (if not all) states have judicial by-pass so that the young woman can gain legal access to an abortion without involving her parents. Unfortunately, this could lead to second-trimester abortions which carry a higher risk of injury and death to the mother.

Some teens simply go to another state or geographic locale where abortion is accessible, or the teen could initiate emancipation proceedings.

But, in answer to Amy's question, I don't think the grandparents can be held legally responsible for the costs of raising the child unless they volunteer to take responsibility. There are many things that minor children cannot legally choose to do but may face life-long repercussions. Minors may be tried for capital offenses as adults. Minors can illegally drive while intoxicated and possibly hurt or kill themselves and others.

This would be a horrible position for a family to be in.

Deb

mnehr · #12 07-23-2001, 06:18 PM

I like Deb's answer better than mine...

#13 07-23-2001, 06:26 PM

Hmm... Well, the teen doesn't really have responsibility over her own finances so how should she be responsible for her child? Would the parents be kicking her out at 16 if she has a kid? How would that be excercising proper parental responsibility? I think the law as it is now requires parents to be responsible for their kids until age 18 and the extra burden of a child would be just one of those things.

If the question is whether the parents should then basically become the parents of the kid then I would say no. The parents responsiblity for the kid should end when their child reaches the legal age of adulthood (18).

Ander