An O’Reilly Factor: We Need Parental Consent



by Bill O'Reilly

Note: Bill O'Reilly is the host of the “O'Reilly Factor,” a nightly news analysis program on the Fox News Channel. He also is the author of No Spin Zone, a best selling political opinion book.

If you don't believe the American family is under siege by some very

powerful forces, please continue reading. The American Civil Liberties

Union, Planned Parenthood and some powerful politicians — most notably

Hillary Clinton — are on a jihad to pass laws allowing underage girls to

have abortions without parental consent.

The ACLU took out a full-page ad in The New York Times, basically saying

that without such a law, underage girls will harm themselves in their

quest to get rid of unwanted babies. And there is some truth to that. Some

troubled teenagers who are afraid of parental reaction will take desperate

measures.

But a sane society does not undermine the authority of parents by

inserting laws allowing children to make complex decisions on their own.

That is not harm reduction, that will cause familial chaos. I mean, how

crazy is this? In many places a minor can't get his or her ears pierced

without parental consent. But a kid can get an abortion on her own? It's

outrageous.

A few days ago, I received a letter from a woman named Carol who lives in

Idaho and who is absolutely distraught. “A pro-choice agency created an

opportunity for our teenage daughter to have an abortion without our

consent. The only way we found out is that someone called the house to ask

how she was feeling. The organization did not speak with us and did not

give us a chance to counsel our daughter and tell her how much we love

her. You destroy a nation when you destroy family accountability.”

In my years as a journalist, I have seen many wrong-headed attempts to

impose laws but none as dangerous as allowing minors to have abortions

without telling their folks. Just think about it. The kid comes home after

the procedure and everything is back to normal? She doesn't have any

emotional residue? What happens if she has psychological problems because

of the abortion? Or physical problems? And her parents and siblings have

no idea what's going on. How cruel and destructive is that?

There comes a time in every society when good people have to rise up and

protect the greater good. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood cannot defend

the collateral damage done to the family when a kid has a secret abortion,

so instead they try to make it a “body” issue. The girl has a right to

“control her body.”

So following that line of reasoning, any kid in America can have sex with

any adult. No wonder the ACLU is defending the North American Man-Boy Love

Association in a Massachusetts lawsuit.

Senator Hillary Clinton is a strong proponent of kids being able to get

secret abortions. Of course, Mrs. Clinton does not answer questions about

her positions so it is impossible to know how she justifies her stance.

But I believe the overwhelming majority of American parents see the

drastic threat that any legislation of this kind poses to the family. If

the government takes away the rights of parents to control their

children's actions, then we are finished as an independent society. I

don't know about you, but I don't want some judge telling me my young

daughter can have a procedure that may drastically change her life without

my knowing about it. Call me crazy.

The forces of darkness that want to allow kids to have secret abortions

are not evil people in my judgment. Their logic is based on trying to

protect abused children and kids who are desperate. But society does

provide safety nets for these kids in the form of school counselors,

religious clergy, and social services. There are also attorneys who

represent children pro-bono. You cannot save every kid, of course, but to

undermine parental authority for the sake of a relatively few kids in

trouble will cause society enormous problems down the road.

It is tough enough these days for parents to teach morality to their kids.

Children see and hear things at a young age that are impossible for them

to understand. Many educators want to teach homosexuality to fourth

graders. They want to explain condoms to sixth graders. They want

individual teachers to give their “takes” on sex, drugs, and rock and

roll. And forget about popular culture — it would make the citizens of

Sodom smile.

So now parents have to deal with yet another threat. But this one is much

more powerful than video-games, permissive educators or trashy movies.

This threat sits there in a black robe and tells you what is legal and

what is not. And if things progress much further, this threat will be

telling your underage daughter that she can ignore you and see a doctor

who will alter her life forever. The stage has been set — all that's left

is for the script to be written.


(This article courtesy of the Pro-Life Infonet email newsletter. For more information or to subscribe go to www.prolifeinfo.org or email infonet@prolifeinfo.org.)

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