Restraining Order on Abortion Law in Chicago...

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I think that--even though her body is mature enough to carry a child--somebody 12 years old is still a child, herself, and needs parental guidance.

However, I also don't think that somebody of that age should be forced to either carry the baby to full term or forced to have an abortion.

Since her body is developed enough to carry a child, it should be her choice either way, though parents should be notified--except in cases where they might be abusive to her for getting pregnant. That's always a possibility--which is why, right or wrong, the confidentiality option was put in place.

When I was in college, I had a friend who told me about a terrible experience she had that left her feeling really bitter against her parents.

When she was 16, she had gone out-of-state to elope with her then-boyfriend.

At that time, you had to have parental consent until you were 18 to get married in Indiana, but the same wasn't true in some other states, so they went to get married there.

They didn't come back to Indiana after that but, instead, settled in the state where they had gotten married.

She had come from a rather dysfunctional family--and, also, a rather high-society one who believed in keeping up appearances. Her dad was a doctor.

Although I believe that she truly loved her boyfriend, I believe that one of the things that marriage extra-appealing to her was getting away from home.

They were living in an apartment and expecting their first child when her parents were finally able to locate her.

They drove her back to Indiana, had the marriage annulled, and forced her to get an abortion.

I don't know if she were legally-forced to get an abortion or if--with her dad being a doctor--he was able to do this himself.

Laws of confidentiality are often enacted to protect young women from tragedies like I've just written about as well as those tragedies of where a minor-age girl might get slapped around for becoming pregnant.

Instead of having it to where a pregnant girl of 12 years could go to an abortion clinic all by herself and have the procedure done, there should be a place where someone who feared abuse could be able to go and find somebody who would protect her when she breaks the news to her parents.