Public School Helps Girl Get Abortion

[DaemonSeid]

Legally in Washington State, she does not need consent.

[epchick]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

Legally in Washington State, she does not need consent.

If that is the case, then she should have gone by herself, on her own time.

The school should not have provided her transportation or aided in her truancy. In fact, unless you are 18, you can't leave school property, for like a doctor's appt, without a parent/guardian physically coming to the school and getting you. At least that is the case here.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by epchick

If that is the case, then she should have gone by herself, on her own time.

The school should not have provided her transportation or aided in her truancy. In fact, unless you are 18, you can't leave school property, for like a doctor's appt, without a parent/guardian physically coming to the school and getting you. At least that is the case here.

Very good point.


@MC

Can we use this as an actual news article?



A Seattle mother is irate after she said her 15-year-old daughter's school arranged an abortion for her daughter without her knowledge.
Mom says school helped assist in her daughter's abortion during school hours.

The mother, whose name has been withheld at her request to protect her privacy, told ABC News' Seattle affiliate KOMO-TV that the clinic gave her daughter a pass and helped her get a taxi that took her to a facility where she underwent an abortion.

The mother did not immediately return messages left by ABCNews.com. It was not immediately clear how far along in the pregnancy the teen was at the time of the abortion.

The mother said that she had signed a consent form that permitted her daughter to go to the teen health center on the campus of Ballard High School for what she believed were ailments like earaches, or for routine physicals, but not for an abortion.

"She took a pregnancy test at school at the teen health center," the mother told KOMO. "Nowhere in the paperwork does it mention abortion or facilitating abortion."

The form also allowed her daughter to receive birth control from the school's health clinic, the mother said.

But even so, the mother is furious that her daughter, who is on the school's honor roll, was given an abortion without the school notifying her parents.

"We had no idea this was being facilitated on campus," said the mother. "They just told her that if she concealed it from her family, that it would be free of charge and no financial responsibility."

A spokeswoman for the Seattle School District, which includes Ballard High School, declined to comment and referred all questions to the King County Health Department, the administrator of school-based health programs.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by epchick

The school should not have provided her transportation or aided in her truancy. In fact, unless you are 18, you can't leave school property, for like a doctor's appt, without a parent/guardian physically coming to the school and getting you. At least that is the case here.

Perhaps the consent the mother said that she did sign provided for the school to arrange for her to get to the clinic?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by epchick

The school should not have provided her transportation or aided in her truancy. In fact, unless you are 18, you can't leave school property, for like a doctor's appt, without a parent/guardian physically coming to the school and getting you. At least that is the case here.

Lots of schools have work study programs, or used to - i.e. if you are in line with the credits you should have for your class year, and can finagle your schedule so that the last 1-2 periods of your day are study halls, you can leave early to go to your job. Your parents have to approve you doing this but they most certainly don't have to come and get you every day like you're 5. And I know that people often left our HS by themselves for orthodontist appointments (the most popular ortho was a block from the school and it would have been ridiculous for parents to drive 15 miles into town to "escort" their child).

I'm betting there are other factors here (i.e. the mom beat the crap out of her daughter when she found out she was pregnant).

As far as that site that the first article came from, here's the wiki on them. Anything financed by Dickie Scaife is far from nonpartisan and just confirms my above suspicions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_Watch

[epchick]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Perhaps the consent the mother said that she did sign provided for the school to arrange for her to get to the clinic?

You could be completely correct, that might have happened. There is obviously somethings we don't know about this story. My school didn't have a health clinic...just a nurse's office, lol. I don't even remember my mom signing a form allowing the nurse to give us aspirin, so I don't know what kind of consent form that school has parents sign.

Originally Posted by 33girl

And I know that people often left our HS by themselves for orthodontist appointments (the most popular ortho was a block from the school and it would have been ridiculous for parents to drive 15 miles into town to "escort" their child).

Where I'm at (like i said in my other post)...you had to be 18 to be able to just sign yourself out and go to the doctors. Otherwise your parent or whoever your parent designated as an 'emergency' contact had to physically be there.

Its obviously different where you are at.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by epchick

Where I'm at (like i said in my other post)...you had to be 18 to be able to just sign yourself out and go to the doctors. Otherwise your parent or whoever your parent designated as an 'emergency' contact had to physically be there.

Its obviously different where you are at.

That's a state by state thing. In Michigan, a kid can legally drop out of school at 16. Therefore, once 16, they don't go after kids for truancy. They can pretty much come and go as they please then. I don't know what the age is in Washington.

I'm always wary of any story that is only reported from one side and where it's illegal for the other side to say a word. There's no way to hear the school's side.

[Kappamd]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

Legally in Washington State, she does not need consent.

Or to even notify her parents, which is the case in many states.

Sounds like mom needs to have a talk with her daughter instead of the media.

[deepimpact2]

I don't get why parents should be outraged either. (saying that in reference to the opening paragraph of the article)

If people that age don't require consent from parents to get an abortion, even if the school did send her off to do it, so what? I admit I don't know the law on that, but if she asked for their help, I'm not exactly sure what would prevent them from helping her. I could only see an issue if she required parental consent for the abortion.

As far as leaving school without consent, I can't see the school facing a heavy punishment over that. They will probably face a reprimand, but that's about it.