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. 2023 Sep 18;1(4):qxad045.
doi: 10.1093/haschl/qxad045. eCollection 2023 Oct.

The impact of parental involvement laws on minors seeking abortion services: a systematic review

Alisha Kramer  1 , Angeline Ti  2 , Lisa Travis  3 , Adrienne Laboe  4 , Walter O Ochieng  5 , Marisa R Young  1
Affiliations

The impact of parental involvement laws on minors seeking abortion services: a systematic review

Alisha Kramer et al. Health Aff Sch. .

Abstract

On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization. Minors are a vulnerable population with a high risk of unintended pregnancy who are likely to be disproportionately affected by abortion restrictions. Examining the impact of historical abortion restrictions in minors may provide insight into the anticipated effects of the Dobbs decision. This study is a systematic review examining the impact of parental involvement (PI) laws on minors seeking abortion services. Our review suggests an association between PI laws and decreased abortion rates. Parental involvement laws also may increase pregnancy and birth rates and out-of-state travel for abortion procedures and lead to later abortions, although effects appear to be heterogenous.

Keywords: abortion access; health care for minors; parental consent; parental involvement laws; parental notification; teenage health care; women's health care access.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest Please see ICMJE form(s) for author conflicts of interest. These have been provided as supplementary materials.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) diagram.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Risk-of-bias analysis. Key: green = low, yellow = moderate, red = high risk of bias.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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