Report on the Minors’ Abortion Rights Project

The goal of this study was to learn more about the experience of minors in states with parental involvement laws who do not involve their parents in their abortion decision, and must therefore seek judicial authorization for an abortion, and to use this knowledge to explore ways to minimize the burden of these laws. At the outset, it should be made clear that having this goal does not indicate that we support imposing third-party involvement requirements on teens seeking to abort. Our research, as well as the work of others (much of which is cited in this report), raises serious questions about the value of compelling teens to give notice to or obtain the consent of a third party before terminating an unwanted pregnancy. However, in light of the Supreme Court‘s unequivocal acceptance of the constitutionality of these laws, and the fact that they are a reality for teens in a majority of states, we wanted to explore ways to make these laws less burdensome for teens