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COPYRIGHT 1992 The Alan Guttmacher Institute
State laws that make a minor's access to abortion services dependent upon the involvement of her parents are quite out of step with the common practices regarding other important areas of a teenager's life, as Figure 1 vividly illustrates. Generally, the review of state laws has shown, the states assure a minor confidentiality when he or she seeks sensitive medical services, and allow a teenager to make decisions on a number of other important issues.
States seem to understand very well how important it is to assure a young person of privacy in seeking care related to such sensitive areas as sexual activity, pregnancy and delivery, and STD treatment. What is more, state laws frequently authorize a minor to consent to surgery, drug therapies and hospitalization for physical and emotional problems -- all of which may entail greater health risks than abortion. Yet, most states guarantee a teenager no such confidentiality when she is seeking an abortion.
In some states, doctors have the legal option of informing parents that their son or daughter has received or is seeking medical attention. However--in complete contrast to statutes mandating parental involvement for abortion--these laws leave the decision of whether or not to inform the parents entirely to the discretion of the physician. If a doctor believes that for medical reasons, it would be in the minor's best interests to inform the parents, he or she may do so. If, on the other hand, the doctor believes no such interests are served by getting in touch with a young patient's parents, treatment may continue in total confidentiality.
Particularly striking is the degree to which states allow a young woman to make her own decisions about all possible outcomes of pregnancy except abortion. A majority of states have laws that authorize a pregnant teenager to consent to prenatal care and labor and delivery services, and no state requires a minor to have parental consent to continue a pregnancy...
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