Doctors don't want to report crime

[Accountable]

This is a tough call. Opinions?





Trial Opens in Kansas to Challenge Law Over Teenage Sex



Wichita Eagle

RON SYLVESTER January 31, 2006



Efforts to tighten controls on teenage sex in Kansas could overwhelm an already strained social services network, according to federal trial testimony Monday.



That's what a doctor of adolescent medicine and a reproductive health researcher told a federal judge Monday during the opening day of a lawsuit over whether the state is invading the medical privacy of its youth.



U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten in Wichita is trying to decide if a legal opinion by Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline goes too far in its attempt to sift out sex crimes against children.



The outcome could have ramifications across the U.S., and the trial is attracting the attention of legal groups, women's rights organizations and health care providers.



A group of doctors, nurses and social workers is challenging Kline's opinion that they should report all sexual activity involving boys and girls under 16 -- the legal age of consent in Kansas.

CONTINUES...

[Sheryl]

It is tough but I have to side with the plaintiffs. It should be left up to the doctor's opinion of whether or not there are signs of abuse. I can also see girls not seeking medical treatment or birth control because of the lack of trust. It's just going to make a situation for teenage girls that is already scary and embarassing worse.