Why is legal in the US for adults to coax/manipulate and pressure a minor into giving up her baby....?

Question

but its illegal to coax/manipulate and pressure a minor into having s*x?

I think both are wrong on every level, so don't get me wrong.

I'm asking this because of the people that say you can't "make" a young vulnerable girl place her child up for adoption and our legal system protects the adults that do this.

Is there really a difference from the illegal act of pressuring/coaxing or manipulating a minor into have s*x?

Its illegal even though she wasn't "made or forced" into it.

Why do the minors right to legal protection against adults stop at s*x especially when giving birth and losing their child is just as emotional and important and damaging and real? Are minors just possessions?

Why is it an acceptable rational for a lot of people adopting or in the business or sometimes even the parents?

Is it agendas..the biased legal system that says you can get away with it..is it because of flawed humans trying to play God..or just about money and nobody wanting to help her?

Answer 1

Well consider this : many underage females are not having s*x with underage boys. They are being manipulated into have s*x with men who lavish them with attention.

Stop the exploitation of young woman for the sake of allowing men to get off and you will help stop some unwanted pregnancies.

Just read the adolescent section and see how many thirteen and fourteen year olds are pregnant by nineteen year old men. My daughter's fourteen year old sister,who just moved in with us, is pregnant by a eighteen year old.

Her mother refuses to let her keep the child and her father said he has four other kids too look after and she is a bad influence. It all starts with parenting.

You expressed concern over the twelve year old "breeders" in Guatemala....what about children here?

DO NOT be naive in thinking boys are getting all these girls pregnant.

Answer 2

It's not that it's illegal for an adult to coax or pressure a minor into having s*x, it's illegal for an adult to have s*x with a minor PERIOD, even if the minor fully consents, they do not have to right to make that decision.

The law does allow for expectant mothers who are minors to make their own decisions concerning their child. In this instance they are treated like adults. If you wanted the same rules to apply as with s*x, and to "protect" her as a child, then legally a minor wouldn't be able to decide whether she had an abortion, placed the baby for adoption, or raised the child, adults would make that decision for them.

  Now if you're talking about a young vulnerable 18 yr old girl, then it would be illegal to force, trick or threaten her into having s*x, just like it is illegal to force, trick or threaten someone in to placing a child for adoption. However, as unfortunate as it is, it is legal to "talk someone into", or persuade them into having s*x,  just like it's legal in adoption.

ETA-

Independent,

I realize that that they can be arrested for intending to commit a crime, but the crime they were intending to commit was "s*x with a minor", it still would have been illegal if the 14 year old didn't have to be talked into it at all, if she said "Sure, great lets have s*x!", and a few minutes later the guy showed up at the door with a box of condoms, he would still be arrested. The law doesn't care whether he tried to persuade her or not, it's just illegal to have s*x with a minor, or show by your actions that you intend to do so, plain and simple, it's not illegal for a minor to choose to place her child for adoption. Do you think that decision should be made by adults instead of her?

Let me also add that I think it is horrible when anyone tries to pursuade or convince an expectant, or new mother into making a decision about whether or not to raise her child, against her better judgement. However, it does seem that the majority of manipulation and pressure that is is successful in it's cause, comes not from the agencies and lawyers,but from the young woman's family or the child's father. The people closest to you usually have the most influence in your life.

Answer 3

Because the sale of infants boosts the economy. Pretty easy to figure that one out.

Answer 4

Because adoption has now become a class issue.  I know, in the States, we're supposed to pretend we don't have a class system.

But the truth is that most women who now give their children up for adoption are of a lower, sometimes much lower, social class than the people who are doing the adopting.

Exploitation of the lower classes by wealthy, more powerful people has happened for eons--current adoption practices in the U.S. are no different.

Answer 5

Good question, but keep this in mind:

If the minor in question had obeyed the law and abstained from s*x, she wouldn't get pregnant and thus would not have to worry about all of the unwanted adult intrusion that having a child would bring.

Answer 6

Pressure and coercion doesn't happen, huh people.   I disagree:

this is from an article interviewing social workers, these with the "Pregnancy and Early Parent Counseling Program," Children's Home and Aid Society, Chicago, Illinois. [Curtis, P. (1990). An ethnographic study of pregnancy counseling. Clinical Social Work Journal, 18, 243-256]

Surprisingly, workers complained about pressure from social workers who work with adoptive parents. One worker said, "I feel there is an expectation that we get these mothers into an adoption program. Especially white girls. There is subtle pressure to produce babies. So where are we going to get them?"

Such pressure can put them into conflict with their own goals. One worker complained, "The better I get at my job, the less mothesr are willing to relinquish. I get them to face their feelings of loss, then they can't do it. That gets the adoption workers angry because there are no babies to adopt." This can result in hurt feelings and mixed loyalties. As one work ersaid, "When I talk to the adoption staff about a mother and then she decides against relinquishing her baby, I feel I have let them down." (p. 254)

THIS IS PROOF OF COERCION EVEN IN AGENCIES THAT PROVIDE "PARENTING" SUPPORT AS WELL AS ADOPTION SERVICES!

Answer 7

It's because in the USA, like the UK,we are seen as no more than commodities.

We are brought and sold on demand, returned when we're 'broken', and if demand is high then they want more.

We are worth money, and that's all they care about sadly. Young usually single mothers are the easiest place to get us.

A sad sad thing, but true.

Answer 8

yes- they are children and have no idea what they've done.

Answer 9

It isn't legal to pressure a minor into giving up his/her baby but may try it and succeed because the teens don't realize they have a choice.  Forcing s*x upon a child (anyone under 18 is considered a child) is totally different than pressuring them to give up a baby.

Answer 10

Because perhaps the parents want what is best for their child, and becoming a teen mother is not what is best.  perhaps they (the parents) do not wish to parent the child.  Perhaps the parents wish that the mother had other options besides going on welfare, interupting schooling etc. Perhaps with age and life experience, the parents do know what is best.  I mean for cry out loud since when is teen pregnancy a good thing?

Answer 11

Many people will pressure a young woman to give up her baby....parents, social workers, clergy, friends, teachers.  Young women are given all the negatives of parenting, but never the positives.  This is espcially true with parents who say "you can't bring that baby into my house!"  How does a young mother overcome that type of pressure?

That doesn't mean choosing not to parent is always wrong, there are situations where it may be the only safe solution.

But why don't the same standards used in abortion counseling apply to adoption?  Young women visiting abortion clinics are told they may be depressed, regret their decision, etc.  

But adoption promoters only tell the rosy side, they never tell women they may never have another baby (this is extremely common among women who have lost children to adoption, it is referred to as "secondary infertility"), they may face lifelong grief and depression,  they may have problems with addiction, trust, shame and low self-esteem.

Beware of so-called "crisis pregnancy centers," they are notorious for pushing adoption as the ONLY option. Young women are still told to surrender the baby, get over it, and pretend it never happened.  In what universe is that possible?

These women need independent legal counsel and emotional support.  No one should pressure a woman to give up her baby, that is a violation of basic human rights.