F.Y.I

Those of you with young daughters in Maryland need to know this. As a health care professional it is actually against HIPPA for me to even acknowledge to a parent that their daughter is on birth control or had an abortion without the daughter's permission. The kids still can't legally drink alcohol, nor can they vote though.

Maryland's Minor Consent Law (Article 20-102 of the Maryland Annotated Code)

This law permits minors to receive contraceptive services on a confidential basis. The law states that “a minor has the same capacity as an adult to consent to treatment for or advice about drug abuse, alcoholism, venereal disease, pregnancy, and contraception other than sterilization.” This means minors can get the following services without parental knowledge or consent:

Pregnancy testing
Birth control
Exams
Testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs)

Maryland's Parental Notification for Abortion Law (Article 20-103 of the Maryland Annotated Code)

Maryland law requires that one parent or guardian be notified before a minor has an abortion. The parent/guardian does not need to consent (agree) with the minor's choice, but does need to know the minor is planning to have an abortion. Maryland's parental notification law says specifically that no notification is required if, in the judgment of the doctor performing the abortion:

1)The minor is mature and capable of giving her informed consent to the procedure, OR
2)Notification would not be in the minor's best interest, OR
3)Notice may lead to physical or emotional abuse of the minor, OR
4)The minor patient does not live with her parent or guardian, OR
5)A reasonable effort to give notice has been unsuccessful.

And don't you just love the media??? I love the stress on the fact that the VT shooter was Korean, even though he has permanent residency and has lived here for the past 15-ish years (technically after 10 years you can file for citizenship). According to McCain, lets keep the guns in the hands of law abiding citizens...Ummm...the dude was law abiding before he went on a shooting spree! Lets stress that the shooter was Korean so it appears like a one off thing because...well Americans don't go around shooting one another!
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Side bar:
My friends sister in Law goes to VT, they finally heard from her and she's alive...a friend of her's though is feared dead. By the time my friend and I were going to lunch yesterday, we were unsure if er sister in law was okay.
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