There is the reality that children are reaching puberty much faster than used to, while at then same time our society delays their development into adults until much later. This presents a problem as 13 year olds can get pregnant but they are not ready to raise a child. I don't think there is a good answer here, but I still think that ultimately the 13 year old gets the final say. It's her body, her child, and she gets to make the decision with the aid (but not coercion) of her parents. Forcing the child to have a procedure she does not want is distasteful and forcing her to have a child that she feels she is not ready for is distasteful as well. Let her make the decision with as much well-intentioned guidance as can be given.

Are they reaching puberty much faster? 12-13 is pretty much the norm for girls to start to be fertile. Got any studies?

Girls are reaching puberty at 11 these days, sometimes even earlier.

Freeman, when the 13 year old gives birth to a baby, who do you see as legally responsible for the baby's care? Wouldn't it have to be the grandparents since the 13 year old is not considered to be capable?

Here is an article on the issue: http://m.guardiannews.com/society/2010/ ... erty-girls
I recall seeing studies indicating that 100 years ago that girls had their first menstruation at age 17 and it had changed to age 13 or so. It looks like it is getting even younger.

RJ, I think it is up to the courts to decide who is best able to raise the child (probably the grandparents)

freeman2 wrote:RJ, I think it is up to the courts to decide who is best able to raise the child (probably the grandparents)

But do you see how complicated this is when the grandparents want their daughter to have an abortion? The girl has the right to have the baby, but she doesn't have the right to be the baby's mother (because odds are that she is not best able to raise the child). Maybe the grandparents want to raise the baby, or maybe they do not (and hence their desire for their daughter to have an abortion). So, they don't have the right to terminate the pregnancy, but perhaps they should raise the child, but if they don't want to, does the state then have to find parents for the child, and does the 13 year old mom have any rights such as visitation?

I expect that if the grandparents do not want to raise the child, then the child will have to be raised by foster parents until the mother could show that she is able to rais the child (and she would have visitation rights until then)

and if this has to be decided by courts and/or others, it would take TIME, the longer it takes, the less likely an abortion can be performed. Imagine this 13 year old example wanted to keep her baby, she knows the parents will force her to abort. So she hides it for a few months time, she could easily keep it from her parents for 3 months and almost certainly much more than that, now a court is brought into the mix and she's near ready to give birth!

very tricky situation no doubt

the teen won in court ... I can't seem to copy the link

Fair enough. Hope that she and her child get the support they will likely need from both family and her earstwhile friends.

Agreed

By the way, here's a similar case involving a 14 year old.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/us/texas-pregnant-teen

Maybe this isn't that isolated an issue. "Abstinence education" doesn't seem all that effective...

•Texas is #4 in teen births in the U.S.
• Texas has the highest rate of repeat births to teen mothers in the U.S.
•Teen pregnancy costs over $1 billion in Texas
•Babies born to mothers aged 15-17 have less supportive and stimulating home environments, poorer health, lower cognitive development, worse educational outcomes, higher rates of negative behavior
•The U.S teen birth rate is the highest in the developed world
•United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world.

http://www.alleyshouse.org/tnpreg.htm

Texas
Schools are not required by law to provide sex education, but if a school district chooses to offer such courses, the classes must also teach abstinence until marriage. The law does not require schools to provide information about STDs or HIV/AIDS. But if it is provided, it must include information on abstinence until marriage.
http://www.teen-aid.org/State_Resourses ... n_Laws.htm

Rates for non-Hispanic white and Hispanic teenagers were uniformly higher in the Southeast and lower in the Northeast and California.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db46.htm

That would coincide with a state with larger Hispanic populations. Perhaps RickyP is making a point there?

bbauska

That would coincide with a state with larger Hispanic populations

Maybe reread your quotation with a small edit. It could say....
Rates for non-Hispanic white teenagers were uniformly higher in the Southeast and lower in the Northeast and California.
Also rates for Hispanic white teenagers were uniformly higher in the Southeast and lower in the Northeast and California

It don't matter if they are Hispanic or not B. Texan teens have a lot of babies. And I'm thinking that economic conditions and a lousy education system contribute to the problem.