Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on how parental consent laws differ across the country:
There are laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia on parental consent as they affect abortion, marriage, routine medical care, body piercing and tattoos and indoor tanning. Just click on the links to access the information.
While there is not unanimity within the blue states (Democrat) or the red states (Republican) on these issues, when it comes to the blue states, there is an inverse relationship between the seriousness of the issue and support for parental consent laws. In other words, the blue states are the most likely to oppose parental consent laws on the most serious issues (e.g., abortion) while insisting on it for the least serious ones (e.g. indoor tanning).
Here are some of the most important takeaways from the data.
No state stands out as the most inconsistent than California. When it comes to abortion, there are no parental consent requirements at all, but there is a total ban on indoor tanning for those under the age of 18, and tattoos are illegal.
There is no age limit to marriage in California—pre-K kids qualify (with the consent of mommy and daddy)—and 15-year-olds can access medical care without parental consent (with the proviso that they are living apart from their parents and are managing their own financial affairs).
The runner-ups are Connecticut, D.C., Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. They all require no parental consent for abortion but are very strict when it comes to body piercing, tattoos and indoor tanning.
The data offer a birds-eye peak into the mind of liberals.
Indoor tanning is considered a more serious issue—it is either outlawed or demands parental consent—than abortion, which requires no parental consent. Why? Nothing matters more to liberals than sex, and anything that can impair their health cries out for government control (which is why they love masks). After all, good sex is conditioned on good health.
Pity the kids in blue states. When parental involvement is most needed, they are left on their own. But not really. It would be more accurate to say they are left to follow the dictates of adults who are not their parents, and who have an agenda of their own.
