The impact of requirements for parental consent on minors' abortions in Mississippi. (RESEARCH NOTE).

Mississippi data for 1993 indicate that the state's new parental consent requirement had little effect on the abortion rate among minors. In a comparison of Mississippi residents who had abortions during the five months before and the six months after the law went into effect, the ratio of minors to adults who sought abortions in the state declined by 13%, a decrease offset by a 32% increase in the ratio of minors to adults who obtained abortions out of state. There was also a 28% drop in the ratio of minors to adults from other states who had abortions in Mississippi. The parental consent requirement increased by 19% the ratio of minors to adults who obtained their procedure after 12 weeks of gestation.

In recent years, increasing numbers of states have enacted laws requiring or encouraging parental involvement for minors seeking abortions. As of February 1995, 26 states had such laws in effect: Seven states require one parent to be notified before an unemancipated minor can have an abortion, four require two parents to be notified, 12 require one parent to give consent and three require the consent of both parents. Because the Supreme Court held in Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth (1) and Bellotti v. Baird (2) that states cannot allow parents an absolute veto of abortion, almost all of the enforced laws allow a minor to seek a waiver from an alternative decision-maker, usually a judge. (*)

Proponents and opponents of parental involvement requirements disagree on the probable impact of such laws on the quality of minors' pregnancy resolution decisions and on minors' short- and long-term health, family relationships and communication, pregnancy avoidance and birthrates. However, there have been few empirical evaluations of these and other possible effects, and the topic has proved difficult to research. Only in Massachusetts and Minnesota have statistical analyses of trends in numbers of abortions and births been reported. (3) In many states, such studies are difficult to conduct because of the unavailability of information about the numbers of minors who avoid parental involvement requirements by obtaining abortion services in neighboring states.

Mississippi is an exception in that neighboring states collect information on most Mississippi women who go there for abortion services. This research note uses data from the Mississippi Health Department, including information it obtained from other states, to test the hypotheses that the Mississippi parental consent law reduced the number of resident minors having abortions, increased the number of Mississippi minors who have abortions in other states, decreased the number of minors from other states who go to Mississippi for abortion services, and lengthened the period of gestation at which minors' abortions are performed.

The Mississippi law requires an unemancipated minor seeking an abortion in the state to first obtain the written consent of both parents. (4) Only the custodial parent's consent is needed if the parents are divorced or living apart, and only one parent need sign if the other parent is not available in a reasonable time and manner. A minor who prefers not to consult her parents or whose parents do not consent to the abortion may apply to a court for waiver of the requirement. The court is to allow the waiver if it finds "that the minor is mature and well-informed enough to make the abortion decision on her own; or that the performance of the abortion would be in the best interests of the minor." (5) Court records are to be kept confidential. The law contains an exception to the parental consent requirement for medical emergencies. Physicians who fail to comply with the consent requirement may lose their medical license.

Although the law was passed in 1986, its constitutionality was challenged in federal court, and enforcement was delayed until June 16, 1993. No other abortion restrictions took effect during 1993, so a relatively clear comparison can be made of the situation before and after the law took effect.

To evaluate the impact of the law, we obtained special tabulations of data from the Mississippi State Department of Health on women having abortions. Mississippi requires providers to file a reporting form with the health department for each abortion performed in the state. In 1992, abortion providers in Mississippi reported 7,550 abortions (rounded to the nearest 10) to The Alan Guttmacher Institute, while the Mississippi Health Department reported 7,555 abortions. Reporting therefore appears to be complete, which is to be expected in view of the small number of abortion providers in the state (eight in 1992).