Another Attack on the American Family

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The Florida Supreme Court (search), the one that made the presidential election famous, has struck down a law requiring doctors to notify a parent or guardian before performing an abortion on a minor.

The 5 to 1 ruling asserts the child's right to privacy. If that law is carried to its logical conclusion, then your kids have rights to privacy in other areas as well and you can't regulate their behavior.

This, of course, is insane and another example of how these secularists -- Americans who believe no judgment should be made about anyone's behavior -- are beginning to control the courts. They already control much of the media.

Here's the absurdity of this ruling. In Florida, a minor cannot get a tattoo without parental consent, nor can they have surgeries like the lasic eye deal. But now in the Sunshine State, a 12-year-old girl can abort a fetus, then go home with all the emotional distress that causes, and you will have no clue, theoretically.

The damage this kind of a situation can wreak on a family is incalculable. The larger question is that the government is intruding on your right to raise your kid. What's next? The child will have the right to keep you from entering his or her room? Come on. It is illegal for anyone in the state of Florida under the age of 16 to have consensual sex. All Governor Bush has to do is it tell doctors they have to report that, or risk losing their license and going to jail. That's the way around this pernicious court ruling. And Bush should do it immediately.

The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the right of privacy applies to a woman's rights to an abortion, not a minor's rights to one. The court however did rule that a minor has a right to an abortion without parental consent under special circumstances: abusive parents, incest, things like that.

So it's fair to ask Florida and every other state to include a waiver that doctors must seek a certified counselor to intervene when a child says she's being abused at home.

But for the Florida supreme court to rule flat out that parents have no rights when it comes to knowing about their daughter's abortion or any other privacy issue regarding their own children, it seems to me to go beyond the judicial constitutional mandate. In the end, this comes down to the state believing it has the power to call the shots in ethical situations involving your family. Talking Points believes this is dangerous and frightening.

And that's The Memo.

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Actor Johnny Depp says he's fed up with the USA and is moving to France.

Depp is currently playing a pirate in one of the movies out this summer, says he objects to the anti-French feeling throughout America and wants to raise his kids in Paris. These are the same children that he wants to introduce marijuana when they reach 13 years old, the published report says.

Depp is a talented performer, but he walks the plank on this one. He's entitled to his opinions, of course, but so are we. We think he's ridiculous but perfect for France. Have a good time.

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