Teenage Abortion and Parental Consent: Expert Perspectives & Considerations

Question
Hi,
I'm doing a research project involving teenage abortions without parental consent. I've taken the stand that teenage abortions should not require parental consent, however I would like to make my case fairly strong.
Could you tell me, why parental consent should not be required, from an experts point of view? Also, what are the risks of not having parental consent? Does not having parental consent injure family relations? Also, is there anything else that you would like to add regarding not having parental consent when it comes to teenage abortions?
Thank you,
Gabby

Answer
Hi Gabby :)

There's parental consent and notification. Notification means the parent has to be notified 48 hours before the abortion. Usually goes along with consent.

It shouldn't be required for many different reasons. The state does not get to legislate communication between parents and children. When there aren't consent laws, 61% of parents will still be told by their kids about the abortion. Why don't girls say? Abusive households. Threats of being kicked out of the home. Forced to endure the pregnancy against their will.

Risks of not having the consent laws? That parents won't know, and a lot of parents are concerned about that. It does not injure familial relations. Most of us don't share every detail of our lives with our parents. But that doesn't affect how close we are to them. We don't need their consent to have a baby, but for some reason we do in order to not have one.

Most parents WILL know about their daughter's abortion(s). But a girl should never be forced to tell her parents anything. It's up to the adults to set up open lines of communication. And those consent laws will not prevent abortions. Girls may try and get a bypass from a judge, which is long and tedious, or they will illegally abort. One young woman did just that-aborted anyway, and she later ended up dying. Her parents are now staunch advocates in favor of repealing all consent and notification laws.

Here's a great resource: http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/facts/teenage_women.html

If you need anything else, just let me know.