Minors and abortion
Many jurisdictions have laws applying to minors and abortion. These parental involvement laws require that one or more parents consent or be informed before their minor daughter may legally have an abortion.
Minors and abortion in law
Law in Canada
In Canada, abortion is subject only to medical legislation, and there are no laws regulating abortion. Under the Canadian health care system, abortion is available on request, regardless of the woman's age or trimester of her pregnancy. Confidentiality laws protect minors' rights to withhold information regarding prescription medication or medical procedures such as abortions from their guardian(s). Therefore, contraception does not require parental consent, and for medication such as birth control, only a doctor's prescription is required. Medical care facilities in Canada by law observe a minor's right to medical confidentiality, and they do not have the authority to share medical information with a parent without consent of the patient. In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled the father has no right in vetoing a woman's decision to undergo an abortion, regardless if he is her spouse or not. Abortion is fully funded by the government in most provinces, and therefore Canadian citizens are not required to pay for an abortion themselves.
Law in the United States
waiver process would take twenty-two days to complete - a significant problem given the time-sensitive nature of pregnancy and the increased risk involved in later abortions."
- The American Academy of Pediatrics stated that "Legislation mandating parental involvement does not achieve the intended benefit of promoting family communication, but it does increase the risk of harm to the adolescent by delaying access to appropriate medical care...[M]inors should not be compelled or required to involve their parents in their decisions to obtain abortions, although they should be encouraged to discuss their pregnancies with their parents and other responsible adults."
- An American Medical Association study in 1992 showed that mandatory parental involvement laws "increase the gestational age at which the induced pregnancy termination occurs, thereby also increasing the risk associated with the procedure."
- A study of abortions by researchers at Baruch College at City University of New York showed that Texas teens who were between 17 years, 6 months old and 18 years old were 34% more likely to have an abortion in the much riskier second trimester than young women who were 18 or older when they became pregnant.
- Lawrence Finer, spokesperson for the Guttmacher Institute said: "It just shows how laws like this can lead to health risks for teens. Abortion is a safe procedure, but it's less safe later in the pregnancy." He suggest that parental involvement laws have a small effect on abortion rates compared with improved sexual education and birth control access and usage.
- Studies have found that mandatory parental notification for contraceptives would drastically decrease a teen's use of sexual health care services, potentially increasing pregnancies and the spread of STDs.
- Abortion by country
- Abortion debate
- Abortion law
- Age of consent
- Conscience clause (medical)
- Emancipation of minors
- Gillick competence
- Informed consent
- Paternal rights and abortion
- Parental consent
- Legal protection of access to abortion
- Teenage pregnancy
- Teenage pregnancy and sexual health in Britain
- Youth rights
- ProCon.org - Parental Notification Examination
- HealthVote.org - Non-partisan Analysis of California's Proposition 85 (Parental Notification & Waiting Period for Minors' Abortions - November 2006 Election)
Index: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
This article is based on "Minors and abortion" from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org). It is licensed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation Licencse. In the Wikipedia you can find a list of the authors by visiting the following address: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Minors+and+abortion&action=history