Guest James Wong Posted April 14, 2002 Report Share Posted April 14, 2002 I was just wondering if any body knew for a fact whether or not it is legal to perform an abortion for an underage girl without parental or guardian consent. Are you expected to breach patient/physician confidentiality? Thanks for any input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest onionsneakers Posted April 15, 2002 Report Share Posted April 15, 2002 > Thanks for any input. glad you added that in, cause i don't know for sure. i'm assuming the situation is that she wants an abortion (so you have her consent) but doesn't want her parents to know. like the other recent post about underage consent, it should be up to the physician to determine whether she is able to understand the full implications of her actions and the alternatives. if she does not or cannot understand (after you've tried to explain these to her), you should let her know that you need to contact her parent(s)/guardian(s) to obtain consent (from a "competent" individual). you should almost never breach patient-physician confidentiality without informing the patient. the exception is when the patient is going to blow up the world and you're the only one who knows (and, presumably, telling somebody can prevent this)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest medwant2b Posted April 15, 2002 Report Share Posted April 15, 2002 The topic has been discussed some already here (Ethical scenario - birth control for underage teen)-- it is about 3/4 of the way through the thread. Cheers! Just fixing your link. --Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest James Wong Posted April 15, 2002 Report Share Posted April 15, 2002 Thanks to all of you, I'll be sure to read up on that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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