A few studies and backers of parental involvement laws have
suggested it is possible that a teen may be more reluctant to have
sex if she knows she would be forced to tell a parent if she became
pregnant and wanted an abortion.
According to an article written in The Oregonian,
twenty-five years after the courts first allowed states to prohibit
teens younger than 18 from having an abortion without a parent’s
knowledge, Oregon remains among a few states with no such law.
Measure 43, on the November ballot, would require a parent to be
notified 48 hours before a 15-, 16-, or 17-year-old daughter could
have an abortion. Academic researchers have found that the abortion
rate has dropped as much as 20 percent among underage teens in
states with laws requiring parents either to be notified of their
daughter’s planned abortion or to consent to the procedure.
Thirty-four states currently require some parental involvement in a
teen’s abortion decision. About 10 other states have passed similar
laws, though they have been held up in court. Measure 43 comes as
teen pregnancy and birth rates in Oregon and across the nation have
decreased significantly in the past decade, although no one is quite
sure why. A few studies and backers of parental involvement laws
have suggested it is possible that a teen may be more reluctant to
have sex if she knows she would be forced to tell a parent if she
became pregnant and wanted an abortion. Among the most recent
studies is a 2006 report published in the New England Journal of
Medicine. Researchers decided to look at Texas because it is a large
state and the only bordering state that allowed teens to have an
abortion without a parent knowing was New Mexico. The researchers
found that after the abortion notification law took effect in Texas,
abortion rates fell by 11 percent among 15-year-olds, 20 percent
among 16-year-olds and 16 percent among 17-year-olds. Though state
and national abortion rates are declining, researchers noted that
Texas’ declines appeared to be greater because of the law.1
1State
Enters Debate Over Abortion, Parent Role, The
Oregonian, October 10, 2006, pp. 1-3.
