{"id":6972,"date":"2004-06-28T21:36:14","date_gmt":"2004-06-29T02:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/2004\/06\/28\/catholic-schools-fear-they-may-be-sued-if-they-help-a-student-secure-an-abortion-without-parental-permission\/"},"modified":"2004-06-28T21:36:14","modified_gmt":"2004-06-29T02:36:14","slug":"catholic-schools-fear-they-may-be-sued-if-they-help-a-student-secure-an-abortion-without-parental-permission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/2004\/06\/catholic-schools-fear-they-may-be-sued-if-they-help-a-student-secure-an-abortion-without-parental-permission\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic schools fear they may be sued if they help a student secure an abortion without parental permission"},"content":{"rendered":"

When New Zealand’s top Catholic bishop charged
\nthat
\nliberal government policies are turning the country into a "moral wasteland"<\/a> he
\nunfortunately was not engaging in hyperbole. Judging by this
\narticle<\/a> he is dead on.<\/p>\n

The Care of Children Bill before Parliament re-affirms a 27-year-old law allowing
\ngirls under the age of 16 to have an abortion without their parents’ consent
\nor knowledge.<\/p>\n

Catholic schools say the law may force them into a legally dangerous situation
\nif they help a girl obtain an abortion without having access to her family’s
\nmedical history.<\/p>\n

"This legislation gives carte blanche approval to send a youngster down
\nthe road to get an abortion," New Zealand Catholic Education Office executive
\ndirector Pat Lynch said.<\/p>\n

"How does a guidance counsellor know whether a young woman might have
\ncomplications from anaesthetic or clotting problems?" Brother Lynch said.<\/p>\n

"It seems to me we are talking about a life or
\ndeath situation, let alone the morality of it. Schools could open themselves
\nup to litigation. Surely
\nparents who brought a youngster into the world have a right to know (if their
\nchild is pregnant). It would be very unwise for schools to get involved in
\nthis."<\/p>\n

Girls have been able to seek an abortion without parental consent since 1977
\nfollowing a Royal Commission into contraception, sterilisation and abortion.<\/p>\n

Brother Lynch said the new bill was an opportunity to have this clause overturned.<\/p>\n

Christchurch’s St Mary’s in the City school principal
\nDavid O’Neill said schools were being put in a "horrible situation" but
\nwere legally obligated to help a pregnant student obtain an abortion.<\/p>\n

"It puts a huge amount of pressure on principals to make a decision like
\nthat," he said.<\/p>\n

"Schools have to look at this and ask themselves
\nwhat they will do in this situation."<\/p>\n

I would like to see the direct quote of what the Catholic schools
\nthere are saying. I really hope that the view portrayed in this article is
\nmistaken. That the only concern about a school helping a young girl get
\nan abortion is the concern about family medical history and getting sued. For
\nthis Catholic school principal to say that they were in a "horrible situation"
\nbut were legally obligated to help is really scary. By the moral law we are
\nobligated to fight against and to resist unjust laws and not to say "oh well,
\nit’s the law."<\/p>\n

And another story from New Zealand School says sorry over students’ pre-ball
\ncondoms<\/a><\/p>\n

Teenagers at an Auckland high school were offered complimentary condoms when
\nthey bought tickets to their school ball.<\/p>\n

The students, from Edgewater College in Pakuranga, were handed an envelope
\ncontaining a condom, sexual health advice and pointers on sensible behaviour
\nsurrounding alcohol and transport home from the ball.<\/p>\n

The ball was held last Friday night at Sky City and was a huge success, according
\nto the school.<\/p>\n

But some parents were left seething over the pre-ball freebie.<\/p>\n

"What kind of a message is this sending out?" said
\none parent, who declined to be named. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When New Zealand’s top Catholic bishop charged that liberal government policies are turning the country into a "moral wasteland" he unfortunately was not engaging in hyperbole. Judging by this article…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pro-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6972\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}