Rights Of Minors

Medical Rights of Minors “In 2013, there were 26.5 births for every 1,000 adolescent females ages 15-19, or 273,105 babies born to females in this age group.” Some of these unplanned pregnancies may have been prevented if those minors had access to their own health records and medical decisions. “Adolescents' brains are not adequately developed to make these kinds of decisions, that they are heavily influenced by social and emotional reactions, including the wishes of friends and family.” This was stated during the case of a nearly 18 year old girl who was being forced to go through six months of chemotherapy against her wished by the law because she was unable to make adequate decisions. She was just months away from making her own decisions
and the law got involved, but something people don't understand when listening to situations from the outsider is that they will not have to go through the brutal treatment and aftermath, and that it isn't their life to determine. Minors beyond a certain age deserve power in making their own medical choices. Without restrictions of the treatment involved. Government officials take their image and the ‘well-being’ of the child into account but what about the actual facts of the brain’s development?
The part of the brain that is actually still developing when a minor becomes an adult is the frontal lobe, which continues to mature until the age of twenty-five. “In humans, the frontal lobe reaches full maturity around the late twenties, marking the cognitive maturity associated with adulthood.” Just because this section of the brain deals with problem solving and cognitive skills, doesn't mean that just because it’s not fully developed means that it doesn't work adequately. If this were the case we’d have twenty-four year olds still going to their parents for all of their medical advice. Beyond the neurological facts, is it fair to generalize the maturity of all adolescents? "Like their bodies, different children’s brains develop at different speeds.” If this is true, this would explain how some sixteen year olds are more mature than some twenty year olds, so is it ethical to set an age for all children when they, in fact, are not all developed the same. The human brain continues to develop for years beyond the time they turn eighteen, however this does not justify limiting them to their rights if biologically every child is different and have the ability to make different
choices. Put yourself in the shoes of these minors and imagine if the age of independence was thirty or forty, would you survive living under the ruling of your parents even though you are mentally capable to do it yourself?
Take, for example, the idea of being put into a nursing home at the age of sixty, in precaution of dementia and unsafe behavior. You aren't like everyone else with dementia that developed that early, but because you're that age its being generalized. “Of the 5.3 million Americans with Alzheimer's, an estimated 5.1 million people are age 65 and older, and approximately 200,000 individuals are under age 65 (younger-onset Alzheimer’s).” It’s completely wrong for the government to control at what age you have power over yourself because of a generalized statistic, whether or not you are mentally capable. But then why is it that the things that minors can control medically speaking, all happen to be things in their control that they could've prevented by remaining abstinent and sober from drugs and alcohol. "Many states specifically authorize minors to consent to contraceptive services, testing and treatment for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, prenatal care and delivery services, treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, and outpatient mental health care.” If minors are old enough to become parents, understand the use of illegal substances, and know when to be admitted to a mental hospital, they are definitely old enough to choose whether or not they want
to put their body through chemotherapy. People need to begin to take into consideration the facts behind what’s being presented as an uneducated child trying to make life or death situations, because that isn't the case. Minors beyond a certain age deserve power in making their own medical choices, without restrictions of the treatment involved. You may ask yourself, ‘what can I do about this anyways?’ The answer? A whole lot. You can begin by keeping this information in mind as parents, and allow your children to make important decisions for themselves. If they are mature enough to have an opinion of their own and to fight for it, they’re mature enough to be listened to. Now is your chance to be courteous of those around you, and make sure everyone’s voice is heard and respected. Give minors the chance to make decisions that will effect their own live.