Commonwealth Policy Center

A headline in Teen Vogue earlier this summer said, “How to Get an Abortion If You’re a Teen: It can be tricky.” But is this the advice journals of influence should be giving to teenage girls? The author Nona Willis Aronowitz thinks so. She says “First of all, I’m here to tell you that you have nothing to be ashamed of. Accidents can happen even to the most careful among us. And it’s only logical that if teens are mature enough to become parents, they are mature enough to decide whether or not they want to give birth. Having access to abortion should be your right, regardless of your parents’ beliefs…” The problem with this logic is that there are many things that teens may do that don’t qualify them as capable of making adult decisions. Teens are still developing physically, emotionally and psychologically into adults. And until they’re adults, they have parents to guide them, regardless of what Teen Vogue may advise.