Parent Notification Law Linked to Drop in Teen Abortions

March 9, 2006

A new study to be published in New England Journal of Medicine finds a link between parental notification laws and reduced rates of teen abortion. The report, based on one of the most rigorously conducted studies to date on the issue of parental notification, finds that the rate of teen abortions in Texas dropped by 11 percent among 15-year-olds, 20 percent among 16-year-olds, and 16 percent among 17-year-olds in the first two years after the bill was enacted.

The analysis is based on state records of approximately 14,000 abortions and 65,000 births per year involving 15- to 19-year-old Texan girls. The study compares changes in teen births and abortions between the years 1998-1999 (two years before the parental notification law went into effect) and 2000-2002 (two years after).

The take-home message is clear: “These comparisons suggest that the laws are causing kids to have fewer abortions and carry their pregnancies to term,” said lead researcher Ted Joyce, a professor of economics at Baruch College, part of the City College of New York.

Danielle Tierney, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Austin, Texas, worries that, for many teens, being forced to tell a parent could lead to real trouble. “Over and over, we see that legislators are failing to understand that not all teens come from model families,” Tierney said.

Joyce said fewer abortions also mean more unwanted childbirths. “In my opinion as a layperson, I think births should be planned, wanted and at a good time for the parents,” he said. “If minors are having births that they wouldn’t have had if the law had not been imposed, then we are increasing the rate of unwanted children.”

Tierney’s implication that the children are “unwanted” seems to be contradicted by the study. Teens who notify their parents about their pregnancy are more likely to carry the child to term rather than have an abortion. If the child was unwanted then why would the teen’s parents not support or encourage having an abortion? Abortion advocates often imply that pro-life supporters would change their mind if it was their child that had an unplanned pregnancy. Apparently, that’s not the case – at least not in Texas.