Should a 15 year old get an IUD?

hi

Thank, Ladies Both Of Your Comments Are Very Helpful. This Subjects Helps Me Even More By Telling My Sister And Her Friends To Just Be Safe And Always Tell Someone Close To You What's Going On In Your Life No Matter How Big Or Small.

Parental notification is a tough topic. States vary widely in what is allowed for a teen to do without permission from their parents. The laws can include nearly anything, right down to whether a teen can get pierced ears or a tattoo.

The way the laws are written, it is so that "youths who have not reached their 18th birthday have the right to seek medical and mental health treatment without the parent's or guardian's consent."

Obviously, just by reading this, you can see why it exists. Perhaps a family simply doesn't believe in going to a doctor, but a teen feels very ill and wants help. Perhaps a teen is gay and wants counseling, but doesn't want to tell her or his parents. And, perhaps a teen is pregnant and knows that to tell her parents will lead to physical and/or emotional harm. Sadly, there are situations like this that exist in all kinds of families, and the laws say that the children have the right to seek help. We would hope that a scared, pregnant teen would have another caring adult in their lives to turn to, but that's just not always the case.

Here's what Planned Parenthood reports on their web site:

Seven states currently have laws not in effect because of court challenges.

Twenty-five states currently have parental consent laws on the books.

Eleven states have parental notification laws on the books.

Seven states and Washington, D.C. have no laws regarding this.

In some states, a grandparent, other family member over the age of 25, counselor, or physician may substitute for a parent. The parental notification law in Delaware only applies to youths under 16.

Here's the status of all the state laws:
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/issues-action/abortion/mandatory-parental-involvement/reports/laws-requiring-mandatory-parental-involvement-minors-abortion-6132.htm

In regards to the question about the IUD: A teen can't make that decision by herself. She can, however, get counseling about birth control, and at that point it would be between her and her doctor as to which forms of birth control are most appropriate.

Doctors don't tend to like IUDs for teens because it's more common for them to come out in a female body if she hasn't yet had a baby. It may come out without the person even knowing, leaving her unprotected from pregnancy. Here's a health page geared toward teens about IUDs:

http://kidshealth.org/teen/sexual_health/contraception/contraception_iud.html

I agree this is a tough one. As a mother of a 15 year old who wishes to postpone sex until she is much older, I can only speak from my own limited perspective. I believe that as long as my child is a minor and lives under my roof, I am responsible for her health, academic performance, value system, religious formation, etc. Once she turns into an adult, she is on her own and I will no longer be held liable legally for anything happening to her. That is the agreement I have made with my child. I said "my child" because she is not mature enough to understand the consequences of having sex. Unplanned pregnancies are the number one cause of school drop outs among girls. Not WOMEN but girls who enter sexual activity with insufficient emotional maturity to discern of what is best, that includes medical decisions. Call me old fashion, but my daughter gets it and I hope I am not faced with a decision in that respect anytime soon.

That's a tricky one. I would think they should get a parent's consent because IUD placement seems like an invasive procedure but then again so is abortion.