ISSUES
Unsupported teenage abortion
What's going on?
In 2017, 1,444 teenagers had an abortion. Ninety-nine of these teens were between the ages of 11 and 16. Among these 99 young teens, 30 didn’t tell their parents that they were having an abortion.
We know these numbers because, in 2014, Stratford mother and daughter Hillary and Ariana Kieft put in a petition to Parliament seeking a change to parental notification laws for abortion among teenagers. With the help of a school counselor, Ariana had arranged for an abortion. The school provided her with transport to the abortion clinic, and delivered her home in the evening, all without informing her parents. Ariana became severely depressed following her abortion, and attempted suicide. It was then that she told her parents about the secret abortion she had had. Following Hillary and Ariana’s petition, Parliament’s Justice Committee recommended no legal changes be made to parental notification laws, but they did charge the Abortion Supervisory Committee to track how many teens were having abortions without telling their parents.
It is estimated that, since 2004, up to 1000 teenagers have had an abortion without telling their parents
In 2017, 1,444 teenagers had an abortion. Ninety-nine of these teens were between the ages of 11 and 16. Among these 99 young teens, 30 didn’t tell their parents that they were having an abortion.
We know these numbers because, in 2014, Stratford mother and daughter Hillary and Ariana Kieft put in a petition to Parliament seeking a change to parental notification laws for abortion among teenagers. With the help of a school counselor, Ariana had arranged for an abortion. The school provided her with transport to the abortion clinic, and delivered her home in the evening, all without informing her parents. Ariana became severely depressed following her abortion, and attempted suicide. It was then that she told her parents about the secret abortion she had had. Following Hillary and Ariana’s petition, Parliament’s Justice Committee recommended no legal changes be made to parental notification laws, but they did charge the Abortion Supervisory Committee to track how many teens were having abortions without telling their parents.
It is estimated that, since 2004, up to 1000 teenagers have had an abortion without telling their parents
Why should we care?
Teenagers are caught in a liminal state – no longer children, but not yet adults.
Their brains and bodies are still growing, and they mature at different rates. While many can and should begin taking ownership of decisions about their lives, the state recognises that they will have a limited capacity to do so, and will need parental support as they age and mature. This is why teenagers have to have their parents’ permission to attend school camps, to acquire a driver’s permit and license, and to receive medical treatment. All medical treatment, that is, apart from abortion.
Given the very real and very weighty consequences that abortion can bring about in a woman’s life, it is reckless to leave young teens without parental support when deciding on and having an abortion. Stories from other teenagers, that came out during the hearings on the Kiefts' petition, show that teens who choose not to tell their parents about their abortions are often not finding or getting proper support. Many struggle post-abortion, like Ariana did – alone.
Teenagers are caught in a liminal state – no longer children, but not yet adults.
Their brains and bodies are still growing, and they mature at different rates. While many can and should begin taking ownership of decisions about their lives, the state recognises that they will have a limited capacity to do so, and will need parental support as they age and mature. This is why teenagers have to have their parents’ permission to attend school camps, to acquire a driver’s permit and license, and to receive medical treatment. All medical treatment, that is, apart from abortion.
Given the very real and very weighty consequences that abortion can bring about in a woman’s life, it is reckless to leave young teens without parental support when deciding on and having an abortion. Stories from other teenagers, that came out during the hearings on the Kiefts' petition, show that teens who choose not to tell their parents about their abortions are often not finding or getting proper support. Many struggle post-abortion, like Ariana did – alone.
What can we do about it?
- Introduce mandatory parental notification for abortion among teenagers, with the ability for a teenager, who believed that telling her parents would put her in danger, to apply for a judicial bypass to this requirement
- Have a bypass of parental notification due to a fear of violence trigger the involvement of Oranga Tamarki in the teenager’s life
- Require a Gillick competency test for abortion decisions among young teens (those aged 16 and younger)
- Require parental consent for abortion for those young teens who are not deemed Gillick competent
For more information see: Petition of 2014/11 of Hillary Kieft and 6 others. Report of the Justice and Electoral Committee. Published 07/07/2016; Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority and another [1986] A.C. 112 HL; M Morrison, “Children consenting to abortion in New Zealand: an ethical and legal critique,” in Asian Bioethics Review (2015) 7(1): 26-42.
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