Students comment after 14-year-old has abortion
Following the news yesterday that a 14-year-old daughter had been given an abortion without her mother's knowledge, Student LifeNet issued a statement expressing their concerns. The girl's mother told the media that she only learnt that her daughter was having the chemical abortion when she met someone who told her about it. The girl had been supported by councillors at her school to go ahead with the procedure. Her mother said she had changed her mind after taking the first pill - but by that time it was too late. She said her daughter was "completely traumatised" by the experience. Family planning groups have defended the law which allows young girls to have abortions without their parents' knowledge. "In some families, if their parents knew their daughter had had sex, she could be killed" one spokeswoman said. Patrick Leahy, director of Student LifeNet said: "This is now the second such scenario in four months. In February a number of newspapers reported a story where the mother of a 15-year-old girl only found out about her daughter's abortion after reading her diary. In both cases the girls have regretted the abortion. "This must be a wake up call for society. It is absolutely ludicrous that parents have no say in a potentially life-changing experience. How on earth can young people expect to make such a hard decision without parental guidance? It's damaging for the parents and it's damaging for the child. "A large number of US states have recently passed parental notification laws. It is clearly time for Britain to get in line with the rest of the modern world and do the same."