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Parental Consent Law Upheld in Arizona

This week U.S. District Judge Raner Collins, of Arizona, upheld the state’s parental consent law. Planned Parenthood had filed suit against the 1999 law, which outlawed minors from having abortions without the permission of a parent or judge.

Approximately 19 states require that minors have the permission of at least one parent in order to have an abortion, and approximately another 17 require that at least one family member, usually a parent, be informed of the abortion, in many cases several days before it takes place. Planned Parenthood studies have shown that governmental intrusion laws, such as parental consent and notification, result in unnecessary costs, delays, and risks for young women.

Planned Parenthood notes that 61 percent of respondents informed at least one of their parents, and in the remaining percentage of women that did not inform a parent, 30 percent were in danger of abandonment and/or physical abuse. Young women who are afraid to obtain parental consent sometimes seek illegal, unsafe abortions at risk to their own lives.

Sources:

Associated Press , August 9; Planned Parenthood

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