What I object to is the government interfering with my parenting decisions and authorizing Planned Parenthood or whoever to provide contraceptives or worse perform an abortion on my minor child without my knowledge. My kid can’t even get her ears pierced or visit a tanning booth without my consent but under CA law she could at age 12 secretly receive medication or major surgery that could kill her (yes, that’s rare but it does unfortunately happen).

A large percentage of girls who become sexually active in their early-to-mid teens are being coerced into it by older men. This is where the lack of parental involvement under current law is most dangerous. How can I protect my child from being exploited when the law deliberately keeps me in the dark?
.-= Crimson Wife´s last blog ..Spring Semester Update Pt. 1 =-.

We got her a female gynecologist the next week and she didn’t go back to the pediatrician.
.-= JJ´s last blog ..Why Fencing Knickers Make Me Feel at Home =-.

I could hold off on the MMR shot until she’s older and her immune system is better able to handle it, but that puts her at risk of coming down with one of the diseases. I could go ahead and give her the combo shot, but that puts her at risk of having a serious negative side effect like autism. BTW, I’m not just parroting Jenny McCarthy or Dr. Mercola, I’ve done my homework and have legitimate doubts about the research “proving” the safety of the combo MMR shot.

It makes me angry that I’m being pushed into an all-or-nothing decision on this. Why can’t I just get the separate shots for my 3rd the way I did for my 2nd?
.-= Crimson Wife´s last blog ..Spring Semester Update Pt. 1 =-.

It’s just not easy. Vaccination opt-outs can affect others,but it’s not just that. What about doctors deferring to parents by over-prescribing antibiotics to children for ear infections, or even for colds and other conditions completely inappropriate for that treatment? It can hurt everyone’s children and the general public when resistant superstrains then develop. I don’t want unconventional parents mistreated at the doctor’s office — but I don’t want any mistreatment, period so as the best we can do, I like Dana’s take on how to balance the personal, the professional and the public interest.

Just remember many (a substantial majority of?) parents want vaccinations and reproductive options, e.g., as legal, medically mainstream treatments and services, and therefore expect all practitioners to be willing and competent to accommodate those decisions, even though some may have personal or professional concerns. So don’t we each have the obligation to openly, intentionally stand for that parent and every parent deserving the same wide range of options, deference, privacy, access to and respect from doctors (and other professionals, the body politic, fellow homeschoolers) that we want for ourselves?
.-= JJ´s last blog ..Why Fencing Knickers Make Me Feel at Home =-.

And while I’m totally okay with kids being kids and it is important to me to NOT communicate to my kids a “performance” mentality — well, I’ve got to say I was oh-so-thankful that the kids were super cooperative, super well behaved, and quietly read during our four hour appointment. I think that allayed any misgivings the doc may have had. (That, and I was very open and honest about some sensitive medical concerns. . .)