O'Reilly wrote this:
Since Dr. Dean doesn't like one-on-one interviews, I have to say I don't know much about the guy. Most of the other Democratic candidates have entered the No Spin Zone, but it is apparently too much for Dean. But I do know this, Dean is against parental notification laws regarding abortions for minors. He is on the record as saying that 12-year old girls should be allowed to have abortions without telling their parents, even if the notification laws provide protection for kids who are raped, the victims of incest or other sexual abuse. Even if.
Now that kind of position can't be changed. That's a defining position. And it is directly against what the overwhelming majority of Americans believe. So if I'm running against Dean in the South or the Midwest, that's all I have to say. He's immediately put on the defensive. Allowing children to have abortions without telling the parents is simply unacceptable in this society.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,103261,00.html--------
And now here is Deans actual position on the issue, and the reason he told one 12 year old not to tell her parents she was going to get an abortion. BTW, O'reilly says being against parental notification is an unacceptable position. If that is true how come 23 states have no parental notification laws ? And even the ones that do have an exception to the law, a minor can go to a judge and get an abortion if the judge approves it, even in the 27 states with parental notification laws.
Howard Deans Position:
One time a young lady came into my office, who was twelve years old, and she thought she might be pregnant. And we did the test, and we did the exam, and she was pregnant. And she didn't know what to do. And after I had talked to her for a while, I came to the conclusion that the likely father of her child was her own father.
You explain that to the American people who think that parental notification is a good idea--I will veto parental notification. In Vermont we don't have parental notification bills, but you know what? 85% of all minors that seek an abortion bring their parent with them voluntarily. It is the right thing to do.
When I was practicing medicine, if a young lady came to me, and she was pregnant, I'd sit with her in my office and the first thing I'd do is try to convince her she ought to tell her folks, because I knew her folks, I usually treated them too. And sometimes she'd even say, "I don't dare, I don't dare--my father will kill me". In a small percentage of cases--that's true. And that's why we don't want the government telling us how to practice medicine.
http://dean2004.blogspot.com/2003_02_02_dean2004_archive.html