Published: October 25, 2011
“How can you be sure you are right?”
Liberal columnist worries about government policies cutting parents out of life-and-death decisions by their children
A reliably liberal columnist for the Sacramento Bee is apparently having second thoughts about whether minors should be able to get an abortion without their parents’ knowledge.
Bee columnist Marcos Breton, writing in the Oct. 23 edition of the newspaper, calls the current state of California law on what minors can and cannot do without their parents knowing about it “absurdities.”
Breton, who in the past used his column to oppose Proposition 8, has previously identified himself as a parishioner at Sacramento’s Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
“In California, teenagers must get permission from their parents to go to a tanning salon – but they can get abortions without their parents knowing,” wrote Breton. “Thanks to a bill signed mere days ago by Gov. Jerry Brown, children as young as 12 will be able to get vaccinated for sexually transmitted diseases without parental consent. But those same minors would have to get parental consent for a tattoo or body piercing.”
Breton said such “absurdities” happen “when unbending ideology devalues parental love and dismisses the underappreciated value of parental guidance.”
“Who believes in that anymore?” asked Breton. “I do. So many wrong or unfortunate turns I might have taken in my formative years were averted because two people – my parents – cared enough to point me in a better direction. Love is the ultimate safety net.”
“But,” wrote Breton, “California laws just enacted by Brown, who has no children, were seemingly born of the belief that parental love should have no official place in the lives of confused teens faced with profound decisions.”
Breton concedes that some of the arguments of those who favor allowing minors to go around their parents have merit because not all parents are models, not all children can rely on their parents for good advice and support. “But,” Breton asks, “is it right to create laws that completely cut out of the equation parents and guardians on the most sensitive and profound questions they may face with their kids?”
“I had to laugh when Brown signed a bill that will bar teenagers from going to tanning salons beginning Jan. 1,” wrote Breton. "’If everyone knew the true dangers of tanning beds, they'd be shocked," said state Sen. Ted Lieu, D- Torrance.”
“If you truly want to be shocked, do some research on abortion,” Breton wrote. “Or do research on sexually transmitted diseases among young people. Or ask yourself if the kids you know are equipped to confront those issues virtually alone.”
Breton concluded: “I understand why health care officials or advocates for reproductive rights have beaten social conservatives in California on this issue. To those officials and advocates – and to Gov. Brown – I would ask one question: How can you be sure you are right?”
To read Breton’s entire column in the Bee, Click Here.
