The Quickie: New Report Highlights Disparities in Young People's Access to Abortion

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: A new report from Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and Kentucky advocates fight against anti-abortion measures. 

NEW REPORT HIGHLIGHTS DISPARITIES IN YOUNG PEOPLE’S ACCESS TO ABORTION: Yesterday, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts released, The Minor Abortion Access Research and Advocacy Project, a new report examining abortion access for youth in states across the country. The first-of-its-kind report identifies gaps in abortion care for young people post-Dobbs, highlighting the negative effects of parental involvement laws. These laws require young people to get parental permission before getting an abortion or, if a teen cannot get permission, a judicial bypass — often delaying time-sensitive care, increasing the risk of family violence, or forcing minors to navigate the court system by themselves.

As MaryRose Mazzola, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts chief external affairs officer, explains “The goal of this project is to demonstrate the harm and the hypocrisy of parental involvement laws and to identify opportunities for states to eliminate these laws, especially in abortion-protective states,” adding “In most states, teens can self-consent to all pregnancy-related medical decisions except for abortion. That unequal standard is not about health or safety but about control and stigma. Young people, just like anyone else, deserve full control over their bodies and reproductive future.”

Read more in TeenVogue and the report factsheet here.

KENTUCKY ADVOCATES FIGHT AGAINST MISLEADING ANTI-ABORTION MEASURES: Advocates in Kentucky are fighting against multiple measures that would undermine reproductive freedom, with some lawmakers even walking out in protest of a bill that they say would shame people seeking abortion. 

Last week, several lawmakers led by Rep. Lindsey Burke left the committee hearing on HB 467, which would require health care providers to give patients receiving devastating fetal diagnosis referrals to perinatal care. Rep. Burke told the Louisville Courier Journal, "It shames mothers who are losing children, and rather than providing them with the full scope of medical treatment that they need, it guilts them into following a prescriptive plan that's not consistent with medical [care].” The measure is expected to receive a floor vote in the coming days. 

That’s not all advocates are contending against. For weeks, lawmakers and groups like Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates have pushed back on measures that would embed personhood language into the state’s child support law and allow people to retroactively seek support from the date of conception. 

Lawmakers are also looking to mandate showing the controversial video “Baby Olivia,” a propaganda film produced by anti-abortion group LiveAction, in school for sixth graders and above. Medical experts have called out the video’s false claims about pregnancy and fetal development, with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) saying that the video’s statements, “reflect the biased and ideologic perspectives of the extremists who created the video.” 

All three measures are expected to move to the floor in the coming days, as lawmakers try to wrap up their regular legislative session.