In Nevada, a girl under age 18 can’t get a cavity filled, or an aspirin dispensed by the school nurse without a parent knowing, but a doctor can perform an abortion on a young girl without informing a parent. Abortion is a surgical procedure involving anesthesia and having the potential to cause life-long and sometimes life-ending consequences. Why is parental involvement imperative?

• Parental notification laws provide commonsense protection for teen and pre-teen girls.
• It is an undisputed fact that adolescents develop physically before fully maturing psychologically. They simply cannot make decisions that fully consider future consequences AND rarely know their full medical history. In fact, what physician would consider an unemancipated underage girl capable of giving true informed consent?
• A teen’s parent is her biggest advocate and her best protector.
• A teen’s parent has important medical information about the teen – often information the teen doesn’t know or won’t remember during a crisis.
• A majority of Americans support parental involvement. A 2011 Gallup poll found 71% of Americans – including 72% of women and 61% of Democrats – favor PARENTAL CONSENT laws,  higher standard than Nevada is considering.
• On a daily basis, older men exploit young girls and use secret abortions to cover up their crimes.
• States which have laws protecting parental rights have experienced real reductions in pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases among young girls.
• Why should parents expect profit-making abortion clinics to have their daughter’s best interest at heart.
• A middle school or high school girl can’t get an over the counter medication like tylenol or benadryl at school without parental PERMISSION, yet she can get a surgical abortion without a parent KNOWING about it.
• How can a parent provide proper and necessary medical care, if they are completely unaware of the procedure and the need for concern?