Stricter Parental Involvement Laws Equal Fewer Abortions in Minors

Parental involvement laws that require parental consent rather than parental notification have a 5% greater decrease on minor abortion rates.

• A recent study by Dr. Michael J. New found that the enactment of parental involvement laws in states with no such laws has been effective in reducing the rate of abortions in minors. Between 1985 and 1999, when parental involvement laws were being adopted in most of the 50 states, the minor abortion rate fell by almost 50% in girls between the ages of 13 and 17.    Previous studies have focused on comparing the presence versus the absence of parental involvement laws in several states, and the effect of both on minor abortion rates.  This study is the first of its kind to compare different types of parental involvement laws and their impact on minor abortion rates. The study found that the states that enact more protective parental involvement laws have the highest decrease in minor abortions.  For example, Minnesota is one of two states that have the strictest parental involvement law, requiring the consent of 2 parents before a minor is permitted to have an abortion.  Because of this law, the state has seen the most dramatic decrease in minor abortions to date (about 33 % decrease in 15-17 year-olds).  The results in this study also indicated that a parental involvement law requiring parental notification reduces the minor abortion rate by approximately 14 percent, where as a law that requires parental consent reduces minor abortion rates by nearly 19 percent.   These observations have lead us to conclude that, out of the 36 states with a parental involvement law today, the states with the strictest laws have been most successful in reducing abortions in minors. [1]

[1]The Effect of Parental Involvement Laws on the Incidence of Abortion Among Minors, Family Research Council, 2008, pp. 1 - 32