The 'Duh!' Quote of the Day

Today's Oregonian features several articles sharing "horror stories" about women who had abortions as teenagers. The articles seem to be printed as an attempt to show why Ballot Measure 43 -- which would require parental notification before a minor girl could get an abortion -- would be a bad idea.

Many of the "horror stories" seem to ignore the fact that Measure 43's judicial bypass procedure would rectify the horrors. Particularly annoying was this misleading story, which featured A) a girl from another state; B) a father who was clearly abusive physically and emotionally; and C) a girl who was already an adult when she had her abortion, so M43 wouldn't apply. If this girl was a minor in Oregon, she could have sought the judicial bypass to avoid her abusive home situation. So could the girl who was impregnated by her abusive father. So would the girl with an abusive stepfather and another man living in a backyard trailer who acted out scenes from his porn videos with her and sisters.

And if there's some concern that a teen wouldn't reveal her abuse if M43 were in place, who does that implicate? Only one group: Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. If such groups are giving an abortion and either know about the abuse and don't report it, or don't ask about the circumstances surrounding an underage pregnancy, they are complicit in the abuse and deserve every lawsuit and state regulation that might come their way.

But among the many stories in this Oregonian series, there was one (seemingly innocuous) quote that stood out for me. It was from Sophia Sanders, a 17-year-old student at Portland's Madison High School:

The people who are going to be affected really won't be able to vote at all.

Sophia is right, to a point. The girls who would be affected by this measure won't be able to vote on it. However, M43 opponents must assume that the state's parents are innocent (or disinterested) bystanders, while the truth is that a daughter's abortion affects them just like it would any difficulty suffered by their child.

But look again at Sophia's point: the people who are going to be affected really won't be able to vote at all. There's a reason for that. Society does not trust minor children to make intelligent, reasoned, responsible choices with their vote until they are 18. In fact, society doesn't trust minor children to make a variety of choices before that age. Those choices are properly made by adults.

If society doesn't allow minors to vote because they often lack the necessary cognitive reasoning skills, what makes us think they can make a decision about an abortion without the involvement of the adults who are charged with guiding them toward responsible adulthood?

One other thing: I thought Reporter Michelle Cole's bias was obvious in the stories, as she noted that a supporter of M43 wears a "cross on a delicate chain" (a common attempt to suggest abortion opponents are using only religious arguments, while those attempts continuously ignore scientific arguments) while an opponent -- who was raped and then "forced to deal with an angry, abusive mother and shame from her mother's friends from church" -- is depicted in tears for not having the abortion and giving birth to a birth-defected child who she could visit in the hospital only by hitchhiking. I'm surprised it didn't say she had to walk in the snow, uphill, both ways.

Again, the subtle slam at people of faith, as if all such people are angry, abusive and intent on humiliation. Oh, and the latter pregnancy happened in 1972, prior to the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, so her story -- while heartbreaking -- is largely irrelevant.