Bismarck, North Dakota News

" I am ashamed to say I'm from North Dakota it seems like the state is only concerned on how much money they can take from people that have lived there for ever. North Dakota is a predatorial state, if any one owes the state they will come after you with every law there is or make one up as they feel fit. North Dakota people need to realize that we vote these people in and we can get them out , we need people who wont take avantage of the tax payers here in North Dakota. "

" I just don't know with what the legislature is thinking. Emotion apparantly. All this does, with the help of a physician and of course legal statute if signed into law, is enable the pregnant minor to HIDE it from the parents. Because there is no obligation of the doctor to inform the parents, they may just be able to get away with it. Also, more importantly, abortion, the medical treatment for it, as it is called, could be snuck past them too. Financial responsibility? More likely than not, a way (another senate bill perhaps) could be found to cover that too. I can't see a lot of good coming out of this bill. In frustration parents may just throw up their hands, hand everything over to the state and say "the heck with it" and go on vacation. After all that has been carved away already, there isn't much parental authority left to stick around for. "

" Of course they'll be aware of the law, that kind of news will travel like wildfire. I didn't say they were stupid, exactly, but do you really think if they are pregnant they are going to worry about medical care? No, they are teens and are going to worry about what their parents will say, what their boyfriend will say, what are they going to do, what about school.... they aren't going to run to the dr. for vitamins! Their just kids playing in an adult world. Yeah, they can run out and get birth control, but if it was such an OK thing, the parents should have to be notified. They know what they are doing is wrong, and we enable it with our laws that shut parents out. In this day and age of STD's and HIV, we pave the way for teen sex? And we won't even get into the moral end of it, and the unhealthy way we allow them to view and act on sex, which should not be seen as a casual activity. When they do grow up what will sex mean to them? Nothing new, been doing it for years, no big deal.... love, passion, compassion, tenderness - what is that, you say? Is that part of it? Let's keep enabling them to view sex as a one night, fast gratification thing, have sex, get pregnant and keep those welfare checks coming. "

" To To Keep Asking Why...you must think teens that are old enough to get pregnant are REALLY stupid. Too stupid to know about the importance of prenatal care. If they are this dumb, would they really even be aware of this law that you assume will give every teenage girl the license to get knocked up without being required to tell her parents. Turns out many of them are actually pretty smart...smart enough to go down to Custer Family Planning and get on birth control...without your consent! The horror! "

" The reason I'm asking my question is because either the young mother is going to have to pay her bill at the time of the visit(which isn't going to be what a lot of them are going to have the money to do) or the parent's will know in a very short time that their daughter is going into the doctor for medical care because they are going to get the bill. You get these bills even while insurance processes. I guess the parents will get the baby news from the mailman!? "

" I might have missed it if someone already brought this up but I am wondering how this part of it works: When the minor goes in for medical care, isn't it the parent's insurance company that she will be using? If they don't have insurance, are the doctor's going to be okay with the minor being responsible for payment? If not, who are they going to bill for these services? I'm just trying to distinquish the line between when the parent's are her parent's and when the minor can do for herself. "

" I am not talking about aboriton, I am talking about anything that would be discussed. I doubt the teen and doctor would sit in total silence, and any questions she can ask the doctor she can ask her own parents - FIRST. I just don't buy this idea that teens would be so concerned about healthcare, they don't know the importance and wouldn't put that as a priority. They would be experiencing much more severe emotions and worries that only someone who knows and loves them could help with. Most often it would be the parents seeing that medical care was received. So why make a bill that they won't use anyway, but that does diminish the role of the parents in their eyes? They most likely wouldn't see a doctor, but would know that they could behind their parents back, that's enough undermining for me. If that child lives under my roof, it's my responsibility to see that what needs to be done is done. Putting the idea in the teens heads that they don't need their parents to do all these things is adding to the problem, not solving it. "

" Folks, this bill is not about abortion. Go read it at: http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/60-2007/bill-text/HRBR0100.pdf The bill is about allowing minors to get medical care in the early months of pregnancy until she tells her parents rather than not getting proper healthcare in those early months. Otherwise, healthcare is avoided until the parent(s) is told which can take some time and those critical months are then without health care. Doctors are concerned about this critical loss of care...not related to abortion. I was at the hearing and it was specifically discussed. "

" I agree with everyone except Emily. I am amazed that our Senators would pass something like this. I am so disappointed in them. I would love to call them names but it won't help. The only thing I can think of is that most of them are so old they can't remember what it is right from wrong. The Senators disgust me! "

" I am not insinuating that parents should not be involved. By all means, if you raised your daughter well, I would assume that she would come to you, her parents. Then by all means, accompany her to the doctor appointments. But I believe that it should be an option to seek counseling and medical care without notifying the parents if the girl cannot go to her parents immediately, for whatever reason. "

" This is an abomination and cannot happen! "

" I know that if my daughter got pregnant the last worry she would have is if she is getting enough folic acid!Becoming pregnant and a legal guardian does not automatically mean maturity, in fact, just the opposite. For her to be able to discuss this with someone who wouldn't even give her the time of day unless they are getting paid is nonsense. The quaity care she needs can only come from parents. This is getting to be a sterile society with family values fading fast. Anyone read "Brave New World"? Soon it will be test tube babies and no family structure. No respect for the family unit or it's strength. This is not what I want for my daughter in the future, for her and her family, if she is allowed to even have one!! I'm afraid I will not be able to authorize my insurance company to pay a bill that I am not aware of. Sorry. Either I am the parent, or I am not. I don't think anyone has a right to define and limit my parental duties. I don't like the state insinuating I can't do the job. No way should my daughter be influenced by strangers before I even know about it. I didn't have that child to be raised by someone else. Let her be my daughter, not my ward. "

" Just another example of how the law likes to play both sides against the middle. The parents are financailly responsible for EVERYTHING thier children do. But the government takes more and more paretning rights away. The parent no longer knows best, just needs to pay up when told to. How come my son can't take an aspirin at school without an act of Congress and forms filled out in triplicate signed by me, but when it comes to pregancy(and of course this makes it an abortion issue) the parents have NO rights, not even to be informed about their own children's health? "

" To Emily: Under the provisions of this bill, a young girl can go to a doctor and hear all the alternatives available to her without her parents even knowing it. Therefore the first person who talks with them about abortion is a doctor. No offense against doctors, but they are not the people who should be in the position to provide this type of counseling - in the absense of the parent. Keep the parents in the loop. Let them come in with their daughter and discuss options. Let them decide together and support together. But to cut parents out of the loop is ridiculous. A child can go to school and a counselor can hear something and report it to some authority and the child can receive some counseling and advice - and the parent is out of the loop. That is not effective social engineering. We need parents to be part of our solutions, not treated as if they are problems. Defeat this bill. "

" to Emily obviously a teen who gets pregnant was not mature enough to stop this from happening and the first thought of a teen who gets pregnant will not be health care but how do I tell or not tell my parent. This will take so much away from parents. If the state wants to have so much control over our lives maybe they should just take all children from all parents and raise them themselves. This bill will have no good effects for anyone and should be defeated. Parents rights are being violated. I still do not believe that the children should be able to get any type of care without the parents knowledge but they can for drugs and alcohol so where do we the parents come in? "

" Mr. Schuh, do you really think that young girls are going to hear about this law and go out and get pregnant because they won't have to immediately tell their parents? That is beyond absurd. These young girls will need to inform their parents one way or another, as pregnancy isn't something one can typically hide for too long. But if this bill helps someone get early care, then I think it is valuable. It may not be pleasant for parents or teens, but if a child is "mature" enough to become the parent/legal guardian of a baby, then they need to be "mature" enough to handle their medical care. What parents really need to be concerned with is good parenting well before this issue could come up. Open communication and mutual respect starts very early! "

" I can understand in extreme cases where the child is the victim of incest. The child truly fears for their safety if the parent were informed or would be forced to have either an abortion or to see an unwanted pregnancy to term. However, there should be in place appropriate channels for such a situation. Perhaps, a call to notify of such a situation and then advocacy/mediator to work with the parent on the behalf of the child. Either pregnancy or abortion can have detrimental health effects. Parents must be notified so that they can watch for complications. On the financial side, no one should be made to pay a medical bill that they are unaware of the "why." "

" This is the most disappointing issue so far. I cannot believe that anyone would try to take away the right to be a parent!! When my child was born I made a lifelong commitment to guide her and raise her to the best of my ability to be honest, resourceful, and part of the family unit. This sets my child so far apart from any of that. Even if she wouldn't "take advantage" of the freedom and encouragement to deceive us, the fact that she legally can and is backed by the state to do so is sad. If my 15 year old got pregnant, the last thing on her mind would be medical care. She does not have the maturity to realize it's importance, and the only way she would get any would be through us. I resent the fact that the situation can be discussed and acted on by some stranger, and the decisions can be made between my daughter and someone she has never seen before. And I get the bills? I don't think so. If this state just insists on further weakening the family structure, it can also carry the financial burdens to do so. This is assinine. I really can't think of a time when a child would need a parent more than during a teen pregnancy. All this bill does is put off for a few months the teen having to face the parents and admit a bad choice, and take the consequences. So these girls live with this for 3 or 4 months, and then have to face the parents anyway - but those 3 or 4 months without parental guidance could be so crucial in so many other ways. I am stunned and downright angry. What purpose do parents serve anymore? I don't feel like much more than a hotel. This is beyond stupid, this is so totally destructable and disappointing. Lawmakers: be ready to take the responsibility for pregnant teens and list your addresses where to send the medical bills. "

" and why doesnt this surprize me? It is hard to believe that we "elected" these people to represent us..does something happen to them when they get to legislature that causes brain freeze.? parents need to know for many reasons, even though the child is probably afraid to tell them, one bad decision does not need to be followed by another that may have life-long consequences..unreal.. "