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  • Title: Minors' rights win recognition (in sex-related health care).
    Author: Pilpel HF, Paul EW.
    Journal: PP News; 1978; 1(3):3. PubMed ID: 12309011.
    Abstract:
    Minors are being recognized as having Constitutional rights, and this development is clearly evident in the area of sex-related health care. The Supreme Court has decided 3 major cases dealing with the rights of minors to sex-related health care. In a New York case the Court held that minors are entitled to purchase nonprescription contraceptives. In a Missouri case the Court held that minors, like adults, have a constitutional right of privacy with respect to abortion and that a blanket requirement of parental consent for a minor's abortion violates this basic right. In the 3rd case, the issue was the constitutionality of a Massachusetts statute which povided that an abortion could not be performed on an unmarried woman under the age of 18 without the consent of both her parents. Although it is now clear that parents do not have blanket veto power over their children's access to sex-related health care, the question remains as to whether they may have more limited rights - such as the right to be consulted or notified about their child's request for such care. The states of Maryland, Montana, and Utah have enacted laws requiring that parents be notified before an abortion is performed on a minor. Although none of these statutes has yet been tested in court, a similar legal issue was raised recently in Michigan, where minor children had been prescribed contraception without notification of the parents. The lower court has ruled in favor of the parents on 2 occasions, but the case is now being appealed. Many lawyers believe that any blanket requirement of parental notification will be held to violate minors' newly won Constitutional right of privacy.
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