Study Says Abortion Notification, Consent Laws Reduce Risky Teen Sex

    Laws that require minors to notify or get the consent of one or both parents before a teen can have an abortion reduce risky sexual behavior among teens, according to Jonathan Klick, Professor of Law at Florida State University, and Thomas Stratmann, professor of economics at George Mason University.

    The researchers found that teen gonorrhea rates dropped by an average of 20 percent for Hispanic girls and 12 percent for white girls in states where parental notification laws were in effect. "This suggests that Hispanic and white teenage girls are forward looking in their sex decisions, and they systematically view informing their parents and obtaining parental consent as additional costs in obtaining an abortion, inducing them to engage in less risky sex when parental involvement laws are adopted," Klick said.

    Planned Parenthood assailed the study as “another rightwing attack on a woman’s inviolable right to reproductive freedom.” “These people just don’t get it,” said Etta Young, PIO for PPA. “The Supreme Court has established a woman’s inviolable right to decide whether to have an abortion. No amount of research can change that ruling.”

    “Even if it were true that such laws reduced sexually transmitted disease, the point is they interfere with a Constitutionally protected right,” said Young. “States have no authority to engage in social engineering once the court has spoken.”

    Young said PPA is considering legal action to bar this type of “pointless and pernicious academic scribbling.”


I thought the results of the study were interesting, but the reaction of Planned Parenthood is also interesting.

The Planned Parenthood representative, all but says "I don't care what the research may show, we will always support abortion."

She makes high minded pronouncements about the need to safeguard "constitutionally protected right(s)," but then announces that PP is considering "legal action" to take away the free speech rights of any one who doesn't support her group's position.

PP's reaction almost reads like satire, its so extremist.