Parental involvement in minors' Abortion decisions. (ARTICLES).(Statistical Data Included)

In a 1991 study based on a nationally representative sample of more than 1,500 unmarried minors having an abortion, 61% of the respondents said that one or both of their parents (usually the mother) knew about the abortion. Only 26% of the respondents said their father knew about the abortion; furthermore, 57% of the mothers who knew about their daughter's pregnancy did not tell her father. In this study which was conducted in states without parental involvement laws in effect, about 75% of the parents who knew about the pregnancy had been told by the daughter herself, and the great majority supported their daughter's decision to have an abortion. Among the minors whose parents found out without being told by the minor, 18% said their parents were forcing them to have an abortion and 6% reported physical violence, being forced to leave home or damage to their parents' health. Minors who did not tell their parents were disproportionately older (aged 16 or 17), white and employed. The minors' most common reason s for not telling their parents were wanting to preserve their relationship with their parents and wanting to protect the parents from stress and conflict. Of those who did not tell their parents, 30% had experienced violence in their family, feared that violence would occur or were afraid of being forced to leave home. Among minors whose parents were unaware of the pregnancy, all consulted someone other than clinic staff about the abortion; most frequently, they consulted their boyfriend (89%), an adult (52%) or a professional (22%).

Each year about 7% of all U.S. women aged 15-17, some 400,000 women, have a birth, abortion or miscarriage. (1) In 1988, 172,000 young women aged 17 or younger--41% of those whose pregnancy did not end in a spontaneous miscarriage--obtained an abortion. (2) Despite these large numbers, only a few studies have examined the decisions made by pregnant adolescents to determine the factors associated with the choice of birth or abortion, the pressures acting on the adolescents, and the roles played by parents and other adults.

Some studies have found that pregnant adolescents are more likely to abort their pregnancy if they have high educational achievements or aspirations, (3) and one study has found that the educational level among the mothers of adolescents who have an abortion is higher than that among the mothers of those who give birth. (4) Robert Blum and Michael Resnick have reported that adolescents who choose abortion have a better ability to conceptualize the future, a greater feeling of control over life, less anxiety and a less traditional view of female sex roles than do those who decide on childbirth. (5) An investigation of decision-making competence among women seeking a pregnancy test found that among those considering an abortion, women younger than 18 appeared as competent as legal adults aged 18-21. (6)

In a study of 432 unmarried women younger than 18 who had an unintended pregnancy ending in birth or abortion, Raye Hudson Rosen found that 57% involved their parents, usually their mother, in the pregnancy resolution decision; this proportion was about the same among those who had an abortion as it was among those who continued the pregnancy. Male partners had more influence on the decision of adolescents who decided to have and keep the baby than on those who had an abortion. The adolescents who were most likely to consult their parents were those who had difficulty making the decision. (7)

Studies of parent-child communication about sexual issues have found that such communication is often limited. In a review of 15 studies on the family's role in adolescent sexual behavior, Greer Litton Fox reported that none found that parents were a major source of information about sex for a majority of respondents. (8)

Of a sample of pregnant inner-city black minors in Baltimore, 91% said that they consulted a parent or surrogate parent before the outcome decision; the proportion was about the same for those who continued the pregnancy as for those who had an abortion. (9)

In a national survey of 1,170 unmarried minors having an abortion in 1979-1980, Aida Torres and colleagues found that 55% said that their parents knew they were having an abortion; the younger the minor, the more likely her parents were to know. Informing parents was more common among minors who had discussed birth control with their parents before they became pregnant. (10)