AZ Parental Consent Law Upheld

An Arizona U.S. District Court Judge upheld an Arizona State law requiring parental consent for minors seeking an abortion, ending a preliminary injunction and making AZ the 33rd state to implement a parental consent law. Planned Parenthood of Central and Northern AZ opposed the law and won a preliminary injunction last year, on the grounds that it did not adequately ensure the confidentiality of girls’ identities – especially in rural counties where judges and court staff were likely to know the girls and their families.

Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights supporters oppose parental consent laws in any state, on the grounds that they:

-Block young women’s access to abortions under the guise of parental rights
-Do not exempt rape victims, but prolongs the trauma of rape with red tape
-Don’t allow for consent by non-parental primary care givers – such as grandparents
-Ignore legitimate fears of minors who choose not to inform parents
-Encourage deferring abortion until the 2nd trimester, which is medically risky
-Limit the ability of doctors to provide medically indicated care
-Ignore practical difficulties in states with few courts and fewer abortion providers

Media Resources: Planned Parenthood of Central and Northern Arizona http://www.ppcna.org/pubaff/parental_consent.htm, Kaiser Daily Repro Health Report - August 14, 2001

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