These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: New abortion parental involvement laws continue trend toward modified requirements.
    Author: Donovan P.
    Journal: State Reprod Health Monit; 1995 Sep; 6(3):3-6. PubMed ID: 12346847.
    Abstract:
    During 1995, more than 50 bills introduced in state legislatures pertained to parental consent for a minor's abortion. Six of 22 abortion bills enacted in the first nine months of the year contained requirements for parental consent or notification. This represents a sharp increase over the number of such bills enacted in recent years. Currently, 26 states have a parental involvement law in effect (an additional three are under injunction). Most statutes waive the requirement if the minor has been abused by a parent, and the Supreme Court has required that a minor have a confidential alternative to parental involvement. The new laws share only the judicial bypass requirement and the fact that they require the involvement of only one parent. In Delaware, notification is required if the minor is under 16. Illinois requires notification of an adult family member. Louisiana authorizes a judge to personally notify parents of a minor when the court determines said minor is not able to make an abortion decision unaided. This statute is under injunction. A statute in Montana, which requires notification of one parent and contains judicial bypass provisions is also under injunction. In North Carolina, the consent of a parent or custodial grandparent is required with certain exceptions. Tennessee replaced a one-parent notification statute with a one-parent consent law. Anti-abortion groups view mandatory parental involvement as a measure to reduce the number of abortions performed. Opponents of the measures feel that forced communication of this nature may be disastrous for teenagers, that many minors are capable of making such a decision for themselves, and that such laws violate the confidentiality guaranteed to minors seeking medical services.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]