In 1994, the Michigan state courts declared the Michigan Parental Consent Law constitutional. The law restricts access to safe and affordable abortions to women under the age of 18; young women in Michigan have been officially denied access to medical decisions about their own bodies, as well as the loss of privacy to make these decisions with their medical provider. If you are under the age of 18 and want to have an abortion in the state of Michigan you must first have the signature of one of your biological parents or receive a judicial bypass. To further the injustice, the Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee has decided to restrict young women's access even further. I received the following information from MARAL this week:
"The extreme right in the Michigan legislature is at it again, this time jeopardizing young women's health and safety. Seeking to make Michigan's current parental-notification law more onerous for women under 18 years old, the Senate Judiciary Committee has recently passed Senate Bill 1059. This bill would allow judges to investigate the more personal details of a young woman's life who, for reasons of violence or other circumstances, can't turn to her parents for help and has to seek a waiver from the court.
Advanced as an attempt to prevent so-called "judge-shopping," this unnecessary and dangerous bill is a direct attack on a young woman's health and safety. Furthermore, such legislation disregards those situations in which a young woman is put physically or emotionally at risk by government-mandated disclosure of her pregnancy and yet again inserts politicians into delicate family situations."
The Republican-backed bill seeks to stop abortions by allowing the "investigation" of the personal details of these young women's lives, a sick and terrifying prospect to an adult, let alone a young woman. A young woman who comes to the court seeking a waiver is already in a vulnerable position; she may lack any support for her decision from her parents, may be pregnant as a result of sexual abuse or rape, or may fear physical or emotional abuse as a result of her disclosure to her family.
Grand Rapids' Heritage Clinic for Women provides abortions to women in West Michigan. The website for the organization clearly explains the process for young women who want to obtain a judicial bypass. While you can check out the website for the complete list of questions, the emphasis is really on the process. The entire process can take days, only to end in a denial by the judge. An abortion is a medical decision that should be a private decision made between a patient and a medical practitioner. It is the right of the woman to make that decision, not the right of the court, her parents, or her partner to be informed or give consent for that decision.
Abortion, like any other medical procedure, should be available on-demand without religious or moral judgment by the medical practitioner or the government. Until women are treated as human beings capable of making their own medical decisions we cannot and should not stand for restrictions on abortion or any other medical procedure. If we do, we are slowly terminating our rights to any medical treatment without restriction based on religious or moral judgment.
If you live in Michigan and would like to tell your representatives how you feel about this issue, please click here to join NARAL's Choice Action Network.
If you would like to share your experiences with abortion, please feel free to do so in the comments section or email us to at the link to the left to discuss guest blogging.
-madlibpoet
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