PPLM Releases National Analysis of Abortion Restrictions on Teens 

Research finds that the majority of states where abortion is legal still restrict teens’ right to access abortion, despite evidence that parental involvement laws are unfairly burdensome and unnecessary 

BOSTON – Today, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts (PPLM) released national research conducted by its ASPIRE Center for Sexual and Reproductive Health that assesses the abortion rights of teens, creating a first-of-its-kind map of minor abortion access that shows where inequalities are the starkest. With a grading system that rates all 50 states’ abortion laws from most accessible (A) to least accessible (F) for people under 18, the Minor Abortion Access Research and Advocacy Project (MAARAP) found that several states that have robust reproductive rights laws, like Massachusetts, score highly for access when age is not a factor, but fall short for young people due to barriers created by parental involvement laws.  

“By mapping abortion laws that are specific to minors in all 50 states separately from states’ overall abortion laws, we can see how restrictive the legal landscape is for young people in most of the country, including in Massachusetts. Research tells us that requiring a young person to involve a parent or judge in their abortion decision can put their health and safety at risk and can significantly delay access to care. Parental involvement laws, like the one in Massachusetts, create unnecessary and unfair barriers to care for young people,” said Dominique Lee, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. “This research provides reproductive health and rights advocates with essential data, legal analysis, and language to change the narrative on teens’ abortion rights and pursue state-level policy change. Young people cannot be left behind in our fight for true reproductive freedom.” 

Through its nationwide analysis of parental involvement laws, ASPIRE found: 

• 37 states require some form of parental involvement in a teen's decision to have an abortion, even though parental consent is not required for minors to make other pregnancy-related medical decisions. 16 of these states have implemented total or near-total abortion bans, essentially eliminating abortion access for teens. 

• 10 states never had a parental involvement law; Illinois repealed its parental involvement law in 2021; and state supreme courts in California and New Jersey found parental involvement laws unconstitutional for unfairly singling out abortion from other pregnancy-related medical decisions as the only one to require parental consent. 

• 12 states have a higher grade for overall abortion access than for minor access, indicating opportunities for state-level action to improve abortion access for young people. 

• Some parental involvement laws are more burdensome than others. Factors include the age at which minors can consent to their own abortion and logistical barriers created by the state’s judicial bypass system, such as the number of venue choices available to teens seeking judicial authorization or if the state requires the court to issue bypass orders within a specified time frame. 

The research was conducted by the legal and policy research team at the PPLM ASPIRE Center over the past year. Leading the team were report co-authors Shoshanna Ehrlich, a professor emerita at the University of Massachusetts Boston who has written extensively on the topic of teen abortion rights, and MaryRose Mazzola, PPLM’s Chief External Affairs Officer who oversees the ASPIRE Center’s legal research. 

“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,” said Mazzola. “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.” 

In addition to creating the first minor-specific abortion access map, PPLM's Minor Abortion Access Research and Advocacy Project also:  

• Provides a legal overview of the abortion rights of teens and the age-specific threats to teen abortion access in a post-Dobbs landscape;  

• Drawing on evidence-based studies and a survey of reproductive health care providers and attorneys, documents the ways in which parental involvement laws can delay care and put pregnant teens’ health and safety at risk, including detailing the harms of the judicial bypass process;  

• Makes the case for elimination of parental involvement laws at the state level. 

Read the MAARAP Factsheet here and the full MAARAP report here. 

###

About Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts: 

Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts (PPLM) is the state’s leading provider of sexual and reproductive health services and has been a leader in promoting sexual health for more than 90 years. We believe that all people deserve the information and expert services to make informed, personal decisions that affect their health, their lives and their futures. The mission of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts is to ensure every person in the state has access to sexual and reproductive health care and education no matter who they are, where they live, or who they love. Our work is informed by research, powered by advocacy, and conducted with compassion and respect. 

###