Abortion Rates Lower in States Requiring Notification

From U.S. News and World Report:

New Abortion Study Fuels Criticism of Obama and Praise of Palin

A new survey commissioned by a prominent conservative evangelical group found that abortion rates dropped an average of 13.6 percent in states that passed laws requiring that minor girls either notify their parents or get their consent before medically terminating a pregnancy...

New analyzed national data from 1985 to 1999, compared the types of state parental involvement laws, and attempted to assess their effect on abortion rates. In the period studied, the overall abortion rate fell 50 percent, New says, suggesting that "parental involvement laws are an important causal factor" in the decline. He says his most dramatic finding was the drop in the rate of abortions among minor girls. Between 1985 and 1999, the abortion rate for girls between the ages of 13 and 17 dropped from 13.5 for every 1,000 girls, to 6.5 per 1,000.

Thirty-six states currently have parental involvement laws, ranging from requiring minor girls contemplating an abortion to notify a parent, to compelling them to obtain consent from both parents - currently the law in three states. The states with the most stringent consent requirements, New says, have been the "most effective in reducing abortion rates among minors."

Read the whole article here.

Posted by Betsy