A young teen girl with an IQ of 53 who can barely take care of her own personal needs is 6 weeks pregnant, father unknown. Her ability to manage a pregnancy successfully is in serious doubt. Do her parents have the right to make her abort her fetus?
2007-09-04 06:01:38 · 23 answers · asked by Mike 5 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Other - Pregnancy & Parenting
Well, generally I am opposed to abortion...but in this case it might be deemed a medical necessity.
My biggest concern is who was taking advantage of and abusing this vulnerable child!!!!!!
2007-09-04 06:07:12 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 10⤊ 1⤋
Actually, there is a real case in relation to your question. Christin Gilbert was a 19-year-old developmentally disabled woman who tragically, sometime in 2004 was sexually assaulted and as a result, became pregnant. Christin had Down Syndrome and was legally incompetant, unable to give her consent. Her parents decided for her that an abortion for "health" reasons would be best.On January 10, 2005, Christin was brought by her family to Women’s Health Care Services for a third-trimester abortion in her 28th week of pregnancy. Following the abortion procedure, she fell ill and her parents transported her back to the clinic, where she was incorrectly diagnosed with dehydration and given IV fluids. Following this, she was sent back to the motel where the family was staying rather than hospitalized, where she collasped. Her parents transported her back to the clinic, where Christin went into cardiac arrest and abortion provider, LeRoy Carhart started CPR. She was pronounced dead upon arriving at the hospital at 4:14pm on January 13, 2005 as a result of complications of a theraputic abortion.
2007-09-04 15:00:58 · answer #2 · answered by ladyrebelsw 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Having a sibling who's mentally retarded (though does not have an IQ that is that low), I don't think he would ever be able to raise a child. At 15, we're just starting to leave him alone at home, and only for two hours at the most. We're hoping for him to live in a group home and work a regular full-time, simple task job when he graduates.
I believe for this girl, her parents have the right to decide whether or not to abort the fetus. Since the girl's IQ is so low, she probably has no idea what's going on with her body and probably had no idea what the sex act even was. She would probably react adversely to the changes of her body and never be able to fully understand what was going on inside her and probably freak when she finally did have the child.
Also, how would the child turn out? The child would most likely become a burden on the system, being most likely severally disabled mentally and never being able to care for itself. Mentally and physically disabled children have an even lower chance of being adopted than their able-bodied counterparts.
In this situation, I would agree with the option of aborting the fetus. It would be the most sensible option for all parties involved.
If you know the parents, encourage them to speak to a lawyer to make sure they have the legal right to get an abortion for their daughter.
2007-09-04 06:21:37 · answer #3 · answered by Meg 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I am not sure about the laws in any state over this, but someone needs to find out asap. In the past, when these women became of age to give birth they used to have their tubes tied in my hospital so this would never happen. As times have changed, people wanted to give rights to some people who were retarded and could not make the informed decisions and lots of hospitals got scared and changed their policies. The baby may not be retarded but if she can't possibly take care of it, something will have to be done or decided about the baby. It's a sad situation. The best of luck to you.
2007-09-04 06:11:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
As far as i understand it, even with a disability she has control over her reproductive rights and her parents cannot force her to have an abortion. However, they could take it to family court and prove that she isn't cabable of making such decision, or possibly that the pregnancy is dangerous to her health and get a court order. They really need to check on who the possible father could be, and press every charge they can come up with. I have a lot of problems with the sex laws as they stand now, but this is clearly rape of a diminished capacity minor.
2007-09-04 06:08:42 · answer #5 · answered by Tresa R 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
In my opinion, this can be very stressful on a mentally retarded person especially if they are not aware of whats going on with their body. This persons parents may think she cant handle this. I would say if they had her get an abortion, It would be for a reasonable cause. If she cant take care of herself, she can't take care of the baby. The other alternative is adoption.
2007-09-04 06:07:49 · answer #6 · answered by Jessica 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
This is a hard situation. Why would adoption not be an option? Is the concern that she physically can't handle a pregnancy or that she would not be able to do the right things during the pregnancy?
Also, I think an effort needs to be put out to find out who got her pregnant in the firs place.
good luck!
2007-09-04 06:07:29 · answer #7 · answered by Kali's Mom 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Take a existence in order that human beings heavily isn't propose? all of us is propose to ordinary human beings. Being made exciting of is a actuality of existence. i does no longer. that toddler has the excellent to stay purely like all of us else. Who is conscious what they're going to accomplish. there are a brilliant form of handicapped people who've accomplished magnificent issues. What if their mom had aborted them? Edit: And what if it seems they are not retarded? What if the toddler is particularly a classic toddler? What then? docs are not constantly precise.
2016-10-09 22:42:06 · answer #8 · answered by yagoda 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
absolutely not!
pretend she was raped or taken advantage of: she should be taken care of in a home specializing in mentally challenged patients, in which they will care for her. give birth to the child and get its dna then put it up for adoption. that way they can find out who the father is and make him own up to his actions. although the general wellbeing of the unborn child is at stake here there are 2 main principles being covered and they are 1.)not killing someone and 2.)owning up.
pretend she wasn't raped and that she could have permitted or not hesitated with her sexual partner (sorry i do not know her so i don't know how severe her condition is): she should still have the child while her pregnancy is under close supervision of medical professionals. if she still has a number going on her IQ that means one way or another she is capable of comprehending a word or two. so maybe the parents can explain the situation to her but still get the dna of the child and then push through with the adoption or maybe the parents can keep the child if they can afford to.
this is truly unfortunate but we have to deal with reality even when it bites us in the ***. to be practical i know a lot of more liberated people would probably say yes to abortion. and considering her mental condition she might not even feel any guilt for allowing this to happen. but what about the girls parents? i can imagine them struggling with her condition and now, going ballistic over the news that she's pregnant. i guess you can say its hard to take care of her and it may be even more painful to see her neglect her body or her child. i strongly suggest that her parents intervene, if they can't keep the baby then just please allow it to live.
2007-09-04 06:21:39 · answer #9 · answered by painintheneck 4 · 2⤊ 3⤋
I work with babies born to parents who are mentally retarded and the babies can be completely normal if brought up in the appropriate enviornment. An IQ of 53 is very very low, and I would like to know who got this girl pregnant.
2007-09-04 06:07:42 · answer #10 · answered by Melissa 7 · 6⤊ 1⤋
This teen girl has obviously been taken advantage of, and in this case, an abortion might be in the best interest for her. If she has the IQ of a six-year-old, you obviously wouldn't let a 6yo child carry a baby, even if their body was able to.
EDIT: Those who say the father should take care of the baby obviously haven't considered who the father must be in this case. He is either mentally retarded as well, and he and the mother had sex without fully realizing what it was, or he is a completely intelligent adult who raped and/or took advantage of this teenager. I wouldn't trust either candidate with raising a child. One is a child himself, and the other should go to jail.
2007-09-04 06:11:23 · answer #11 · answered by a*perfect*teardrop 3 · 7⤊ 3⤋