Birth-Control Notice Laws Faulted
Laws that require parents to be notified when teens seek birth control would do little to curb underage sex and could cause more girls to engage in unsafe intercourse, a survey of teens in 33 states suggests.
Nearly one in five girls surveyed at federally funded family planning clinics nationwide said they would either use no birth control or use unreliable methods, while 7 percent said they would stop having sex, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute study, an Institute that supports reproductive choice.
The results, from 1526 girls under age 18, were in response to anonymous questionnaires and echo smaller, more local studies. The study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Sixty percent said their parents knew about the visits, and 59 percent said they'd continue to seek contraception at clinics even with notification laws (parental notification) in place or to be enacted. But 18 percent said they would avoid birth control or would use less reliable methods (rhythm or withdrawal methods) if other options weren't available without notification.
slightly paraphrased or quoted from The Washington Post, page A5, Wed., Jan 19, 2005. originally "--from News Services"
Interesting attempt to link an effect (increased un-safe intercourse and/or increases in possibilities of teen pregnancy) with a potential cause (more parental notification laws).
Still, as the survey notes, sixty percent of the respondents believe their parents already know that the kids are going to clinics for birth control (though I'm not sure that those numbers are really correct, as many parents seem to be out of touch, or in denial about, their childrens sexuality).
