Report on the Minors' Abortion Rights Project
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University of Massachusetts Boston ScholarWorks at UMass Boston Publications from the Center for Women in Politics Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy and Public Policy 9-30-2000 Report on the Minors’ Abortion Rights Project J. Shoshanna Ehrlich Carol Hardy-Fanta University of Massachusetts Boston, [email protected] Jamie Ann Sabino Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.umb.edu/cwppp_pubs Part of the Health Policy Commons, Social Policy Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Ehrlich, J. Shoshanna; Hardy-Fanta, Carol; and Sabino, Jamie Ann, "Report on the Minors’ Abortion Rights Project" (2000). Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy. 52. http://scholarworks.umb.edu/cwppp_pubs/52 This Research Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy at ScholarWorks at UMass Boston. It has been accepted for inclusion in Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at UMass Boston. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Report on the Minors’ Abortion Rights Project .......... September 30, 2000 Prepared by: J. Shoshanna Ehrlich, J.D. Carol Hardy-Fanta, Ph.D. Jamie Ann Sabino, J.D. University of Massachusetts Boston 100 Morrissey Blvd. Boston, Massachusetts 02125-3393 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... i List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. ii INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................... 1 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY .......................................................................... 3 The Legal Context: Medical Consent Rights and Statutory Alternatives to Court ..................... 3 Quantitative Data: Analysis of PPLM Counseling and Referral Interviews ............................... 5 Qualitative Data: In-depth Interviews with Minors .................................................................... 7 School Policies That Affect Minors‘ Access to Judicial Bypass .............................................. 10 DATA LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................................. 13 THE LEGAL CONTEXT: DETAILED FINDINGS ................................................................... 19 Medical Decision-Making Rights of Minors ............................................................................ 19 Existing Alternatives to the Parental/Judicial Consent Model for Abortion Decision Making ....................................................................................................................... 28 Utilization of Statutory Alternatives by Minors........................................................................ 34 MINOR DECISION MAKING AND ADULT INVOLVEMENT: DETAILED FINDINGS FROM THE PPLM JUDICIAL BYPASS DATA ........................................................................ 35 Referrals to Planned Parenthood—Timing and Sources ........................................................... 36 Demographic Profile ................................................................................................................. 37 Why Minors Don‘t Tell Their Parents ...................................................................................... 42 The Decision to Have an Abortion ........................................................................................... 47 Whom Minors Talked to in Making their Abortion Decision .................................................. 51 ―Alternative Adult‖ Involvement .............................................................................................. 57 ―Alternative Adult‖ Involvement .............................................................................................. 58 Factors Associated with Talking to an Adult in Making the Abortion Decision ...................... 60 ABORTION DECISION MAKING, ADULT INVOLVEMENT, AND COURT EXPERIENCE: DETAILED FINDINGS FROM IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH MINORS ............................................................................................................................ 63 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Minors Interviewed In-depth ......................................... 64 Pregnancy and the Abortion Decision ....................................................................................... 70 Why Minors Did Not Tell Their Parents: The Family Context ................................................ 90 Why Minors Did Not Tell Their Parents: Multiple Reasons and Themes ................................ 99 THE COURT EXPERIENCE ..................................................................................................... 110 SCHOOL POLICIES AND PRACTICES: DETAILED FINDINGS FROM POLICY AND CASE STUDY RESEARCH ............................................................................................ 116 The Constitutional Right to Confidentiality ........................................................................... 116 Cases Involving School Absence Policies .............................................................................. 137 The Massachusetts Experience ............................................................................................... 138 Findings from the Case Studies .............................................................................................. 140 SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS ............................................................................................. 147 The Legal Context ................................................................................................................... 147 Profile of Massachusetts Minors Seeking Judicial Bypass, 1998-1999 .................................. 148 Pregnancy and the Abortion Decision-Making Process .......................................................... 149 Why Minors Did Not Tell Their Parents ................................................................................ 151 Adult Involvement in Pregnancy/Abortion Decision Making ................................................ 152 i The Court Experience ............................................................................................................. 153 School Policies That Affect Minors‘ Access to Judicial Bypass and Reproductive Choice .. 154 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................. 155 Situating the Discussion about Parental Involvement Laws in a Broader Legal Context ....... 155 The Abortion Decision and the Bypass Process ..................................................................... 158 Parental Involvement Laws ..................................................................................................... 177 ii List of Tables Table 1: States with Expanded Options for Minors – Statutes and Summary of Key Provisions ....................................................................................................................... 29 Table 2: Background Characteristics (PPLM Data) .....................................................................38 Table 3: Educational Characteristics (PPLM Data) .....................................................................39 Table 4: Living Situations, by Race (PPLM Data) ......................................................................41 Table 5: Reason Not to Tell Parents about Pregnancy (PPLM Data) ..........................................43 Table 6: Additional Reasons Given by Those Who Did Not Tell Because Parents Would Be Extremely Upset or Upset (PPLM Data) .......................................................................45 Table 7: Major Reasons for Choosing an Abortion (PPLM Data) ...............................................48 Table 8: Multiple Reasons for Choosing an Abortion (PPLM Data) ..........................................49 Table 9: Reasons for Choosing an Abortion, by Theme and Age (PPLM Data) .........................49 Table 10: Specific Reasons for Choosing an Abortion (PPLM Data) .........................................50 Table 11: Reason Parent Denied Consent, for Those Who Told Their Parents (PPLM Data) ....50 Table 12: Details on Minors Who Talked to Someone (PPLM Data) .........................................52 Table 13: Percent of Minors Who Talked to Number of People (PPLM Data) ............................52 Table 14: Whom Teens Talked to about Decision (PPLM Data) .................................................55 Table 15: Main Effects for Age, Race, Religion, Lives with Parents and Reason for Not Telling Parent – Logit Model of Talked to an ―Alternative Adult‖ (PPLM Data) .......62 Table 16: Background Characteristics of Minors (In-depth Interviews) .....................................65 Table 17: Educational Characteristics of Minors (In-depth Interviews) .......................................66 Table 18: Selected Demographic Characteristics of Minors (In-depth Interviews) .....................69 Table 19: School Community Profile (Case Study Data) ..........................................................142 i List of Figures Figure 1: Judicial Bypass Intakes at PPLM,