Adolescent abortion and mandated parental involvement.

ABSTRACT

PIP: Although medical emancipation laws empower mature minors to regulate their own health care, most states in the US have enacted legislation mandating some form of parental involvement in adolescent abortion. Such government intervention runs the risk of jeopardizing adolescents' mental and physical well-being and defies research findings that adolescents are capable of making sound informed treatment decisions. The medical emancipation statutes were enacted to protect adolescents from parental punishment and prevent delays in seeking treatment. This is especially important in the case of pregnant adolescents from dysfunctional, nonsupportive families. Such adolescents are unlikely to be persuaded by law to confide in their parents; more probable outcomes include carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term without adequate prenatal care or travel to a state without parental notification laws for the abortion. Urged is a unified health policy that supports the decision-making capabilities of most adolescents and protects their access to health services.