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November 7, 2005
Cover of the publication Danger Ahead

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood, which questions the constitutionality of a parental notification law in New Hampshire, a new policy brief, Danger ahead: How restricting teens’ access to safe abortion threatens their lives and health, demonstrates that when young women encounter barriers to sexual and reproductive health information and safe abortion, their health and lives are endangered.  Drawing on data and experiences from around the world, the policy brief and its accompanying fact sheet, both by Ipas, calls for the elimination of parental consent and notification laws and other strategies to preserve the health of young women worldwide.

“It is clear that creating obstacles to safe abortion is harmful to the health and futures of young women,” said Anu Kumar, executive vice president of Ipas.  “The girls who suffer most are the youngest, the poorest and those who are already victims of physical and sexual abuse.”

In many countries, young women face high rates of unintended pregnancies, yet lack the means to prevent them, the brief states. In the United States, more than 90 percent of pregnancies to girls ages 15-19 are unintended. The causes of unintended pregnancy are similar worldwide, including inadequate access to information on pregnancy prevention and inadequate access to contraception. Physical and sexual abuse is also significant. According to one figure cited in the brief, in some countries, 50-60 percent of adolescents who become pregnant have histories of physical or sexual abuse. 

Unintended pregnancy is particularly problematic for young women who experience special health risks not encountered by older women.  Young women whose bodies haven’t fully developed can suffer prolonged or obstructed labor during childbirth, which can seriously impact the health of young mothers and their children.  In addition, adolescents younger than 15 are more likely to have miscarriages or stillbirths.  In industrialized countries, the risk of maternal death is low, but twice as high for adolescents under 17 than for adult women.

Parental consent laws, which exist in the United States and 23 other countries, make adolescents acutely susceptible to injuries and deaths from unsafe abortion.  Such provisions may delay abortion or cause young women to terminate a pregnancy through unsafe means.  While deaths from unsafe abortion are not common in the United States, it is estimated that 2-4 million unsafe abortions occur among adolescent women in developing countries each year.  Where induced abortion is highly restricted by law, adolescents have the highest risk of suffering serious complications from unsafe abortions. Women younger than 20 years account for 38-68 percent of patients admitted to hospitals for treatment of unsafe abortion complications in many developing countries. Should access to safe abortion continue to be restricted in the United States, the incidence of unsafe abortions and their medical complications for teens is likely to rise.

Because adolescents face certain risks in pregnancy and abortion not experienced by older women, special care should be taken to address their needs. The brief makes several policy recommendations:

“Our policies should acknowledge the unique needs of young women who have unwanted pregnancies,” said Sarah Packer, policy coordinator at Ipas and author of the brief.  “We must recognize their right to decide whether or when to have children.  The denial of that right can threaten not only young women’s health, but their ability to provide for themselves and their families.”

To schedule an interview with Anu Kumar, please call Ivette Zamora or Joan Grangenois-Thomas at 914-833-7093.

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258