Doctor says pregnant teens can decide on abortions

Teenage girls are encouraged to involve their parents when deciding whether to terminate a pregnancy, a Rotorua doctor says.
Dr Tania Pinfold of Rotovegas Health Centre said health professionals were not on a "mission of subterfuge" against caregivers or parents.
A recent report revealed a mother's anger at discovering her 16-year-old daughter had an abortion arranged by a school counsellor with no parental input.
"We strongly encourage them to involve parents and caregivers in any important health decision, but we don't compel them," Dr Pinfold said.
"The law states a young person of any age can make their own health decision as long as it is good, informed consent. If the young person meets the maturity to make this decision and understands, they can give consent.
"We always say that it's really important to have a parent or another appropriate adult involved for support and we usually do succeed but there are cases where to tell is not safe, helpful or appropriate.
"There may be possible retribution and unsafe repercussions or the pregnancy may have been a result of an unsafe home and they were at risk of incest," she said.
Statistics New Zealand reported 208 girls aged 11-20 had abortions in 2009. Rotorua Hospital does not terminate pregnancy so women are referred to the central booking office at Waikato Hospital which organises terminations at Waikato, Tokoroa or Thames Hospitals.
Dr Pinfold said it was not appropriate to give figures on how many pregnancies she refers but it was a "steady but small" number.
Rotorua school nurses defended their role in referring pregnant girls to a doctor who may organise an abortion.
"We are bound by legislation and privacy laws so that anything a student says to us is private," Rotorua Girls' High School nurse Shirley Tickelpenny said.
"If a child is pregnant they have to be referred to a doctor, nurses don't do abortions."
Lakes High School nurse Jane Seath agreed, saying they were not legally allowed to contact families.
"We do encourage them to talk to their parents and most of them do, it's usually not an issue and most of them [parents] already know."
Police Minister Judith Collins recently pledged to support a call for laws to stop under-16s having abortions without their parents being told.
However, Dr Pinfold believes the law should stay as it is.
"If they had to tell an adult or a parent, many will not disclose they are pregnant until they are well in advance and there are cases where it just not safe to disclose."