Healthcare is a vital part of people’s lives at all ages, and students need to have the right to access it independently of their parents and get to be educated about it. There are over 300 youth clinics nationwide that provide opportunities for students to walk in and discuss their puberty, period pain, abortion, anxiety, depression, and a variety of other health concerns. However, to date, there are still no legal documents or laws that recognize this right of students to access their healthcare without their parents' assistance. Therefore, these programs are often under threat of cuts to the federal budget, not only because of the lack of legal rights but also due to the lack of representation in the government, as they have no voting rights.
However, the fundamental reason for the U.S. ratifying these decisions is, in fact, multilayered. First, it is prolonged for the U.S. to join human rights treaties. They become very cautious when the issue involves legal obligation, such that they took 40 years to decide whether to ratify the Genocide Convention. On the other hand, there is a much broader cultural war going on between parents and teachers about students’ sexuality and gender identity education. The conservative force of some parents keeps pushing the convention back. It’s challenging to determine who should decide on the education children receive, the parents or the students, so it will take a considerable amount of time to implement changes.
Although some precursor countries like Sweden allow children to access contraceptive and sexual health counseling, including sometimes abortion care, without parental consent, Todres thinks it will simply not happen in the U.S., as it isn’t a problem for the majority of kids. Additionally, parents should always prioritize the care of their children. “If you survey parents, what do they want for their children? They want their children to be safe. They want to be able to take their child to a good doctor when the child needs it, and they want the child to receive a quality education,” said Todres.
If the U.S. ratifies the convention one day, it will likely do so like Sweden.
