Current Affairs

[ailbhe]

OK, I try not to do this because I hate discussing it, but here we go. On Sue Axon's "Right to Know" bid, I said the following in a community earlier today:

I find the thought that my daughter might do this - get pregnant and have an abortion, without telling me - terrifying and upsetting. But if that's what she felt she needed to do to feel safe then that's my own damn fault for not realising something was wrong, and taking her right to feel safe away from her is not the way to solve it.

I'm crying typing this. It's a terrible, terrible thing to contemplate. But she is a person, all 18 months of her, and she has the right to feel safe. It's my job as her mother to give her all the safety I can find. Even from myself.

Even from myself.

This is too upsetting, I can't say any more.

Also, I need to write down all the stuff I have to discuss with the consultant on Monday. And we have no printer. Gah. I am finding it very very hard to think about, also. I would greatly appreciate other people telling me what they remember me wanting to talk about.

And if we could do something to my fear-and-guilt reaction every time the phone rings, that would be good too.

Comments

[wingedkami.livejournal.com]

Thankyou for this. I'm opposed to this bid, and it's good to hear some parents' points of view. I imagine a situation where a girl is too scared to go to the doctor so ends up having a baby she doesn't want and can't look after. Or asking livejournal communities about natural abortificants and risking her life with herbal teas.

It looks to me like Sue Axon's guilt over her own abortion is what's motivating her here.

[megabitch.livejournal.com]

So, what do you think would motivate me to do exactly the same in her position? As I said before, I'm pretty sure my daughter would come to me first, but if she did make a mistake and didn't come to me and any medical professional (or social services employee) arranged an abortion for her without my explicit consent I would be making even more of a fuss than Sue Axon is. Trust me on this.

[ailbhe]

You as a parent do not have the legal right to give or withold consent for a medical procedure for your children anyway - you can make your views known but ultimately the doctors have to do what they feel is right for the patient. It's the same for the next-of-kin of someone in a vegetative state.

[megabitch.livejournal.com]

You missed a fairly important point there... the words "life-saving/preserving" belong before the words "medical procedure". And I believe that even then doctors/hospitals still need to get a court order to do anything beyond emergency care if the patient or next-of-kin refuse consent.

www.bma.org.uk (I think that's the URL) makes the specific point of informed consent being required as well. The whole site makes pretty interesting reading.