Letters to the Editor
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a poor case
This is the best case So could compose? Seriously, after all the qualifiers "I'm a feminist..." what we get is a poor case indeed:
-parents aren't required to provide consent for all medical procedures. This is one of So's first and most compelling claims. AND IT IS WRONG. This is a basic argumentation skill that most people perfect in Freshman comp.
-suggesting that parents will react to their daughter's pregnancy with 'grounding them'. This can't be serious.
-completely ignoring the high rates of sexual abuse occuring within the family
The young women of the state of California deserved a better articulation of what possibly could be a reasonable argument to support this measure. Unfortunately, So doesn't provide it.
One important point that another poster brought up to support the measure is that teens are stressed when their pregnant. I agree it is probably a stressful, if not traumatic time. However, I also think that parents are also likely to experience some stress. Asking parents to see their *children* as not only sexual beings, but potential parents must be stressful. I'm sure some parents handle it well, but I think a simple equation of parents=calm rational and pregnant teen=irration is simplistic at best.