This week's Lifelines deals with some important questions from a high school student about her rights regarding reproductive health care. She writes:
I just want to share my experience at a Japanese clinic. I went to a nearby Japanese ob-gyn clinic by myself and the clinic wouldn't let me in because I wasn't with my parents. Why can't I go to the gynecologist by myself? Is that the law in Japan? I want to get tested for STDs and have access to contraceptives pills but I can't.
Also, I recently went to the family doctor and got tested for cystitis (an infection of the bladder, common among women). I told the clinic I'd had sex, as maybe it was the cause of my cystitis. I asked the clinic not to tell my parents, but they called them. Where's my privacy? I know I'm only in my mid-teens, but I have rights.