Parental Notification Laws Increase Risks For Adolescents, Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 12 Aug 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Parental notification laws "assume that all young women can safely involve their family in the decision to terminate a pregnancy," but the government "cannot mandate good family dynamics or strengthen a family's ability to engage in effective and positive communication," Soo Ji Min, executive director of the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, writes in a Chicago Sun-Times opinion piece. Min notes that Illinois' 1995 Parental Notice of Abortion Act recently went into effect after the U.S. Court of Appeals lifted an injunction blocking the statute. The law requires that a health care provider notify by phone or in person an adult older than age 21 who is a parent, grandparent, stepparent living in the home or legal guardian of a pregnant minor 48 hours before an abortion is performed. In addition, the doctor performing the abortion is legally required to give at least 48 hours notice to an adult family member. "Ideally, young women would freely inform their parents or other trusted adults" of an abortion and "most do," Min writes. She adds that a study published in Family Planning Perspectives found that 74% of 15-year-olds and 90% of 14-year-olds report that at least one parent knew of their decision to have an abortion. More than 50% of young women who do not include a parent in their decision to undergo an abortion cite fear of abuse or eviction, according to Min. The American Medical Association reports that some minors seeking abortion "will go to extreme and unhealthy lengths to keep pregnancies secret," such as obtaining illegal abortions, self-inducing abortions or running away from home, Min writes. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "'mandating parental notification does not receive the intended benefit of promoting family communication, but it does increase the risk of harm to the adolescent by delaying access to appropriate care,'" she adds. A 2000 parental notification law in Texas increased the odds "that a young woman's pregnancy would result in a second-trimester abortion," which holds higher risks of complication, Min states.

Although the Illinois law allows minors to seek a waiver through a court order, "there's little proof that the state courts are prepared to handle the judicial bypass procedure, which mandates a 48-hour turnaround and absolute privacy," Min writes. She adds that "young women who already face multiple barriers to accessing legal health care -- based on culture, language, religion, economic or immigrant status -- will encounter even greater obstacles if forced to navigate the judicial bypass procedure."

Instead of "continuing to restrict health options for adolescent women, we should focus on ensuring that all youth have access to the information and reproductive health care they need and deserve," Min writes. Comprehensive and medically accurate sex education "should be taught in all Illinois schools," and teachers in the states "should receive sexual health education as part of their basic training," she writes, adding that emergency contraception "should be made available without a prescription to all adolescents without delay." Such solutions "will reduce the need for abortion without compromising the health of young women in Illinois," Min continues, concluding that "these are solutions that our policymakers, legislators and courts should support" (Min, Chicago Sun-Times, 8/8).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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