Battles over abortion are being waged in an ever-shifting theater of operations. As combat moves from the courts to state legislatures to Congress to the ballot box, one issue is drawing especially heavy firepower: laws that require teenagers to involve their parents in abortion decisions. Forty-one states have enacted laws that prevent minors—generally anyone under age 18—from obtaining abortions unless they either notify their parents or get the consent of one or both parents.*
The issue of teenagers and abortion stems from a problem welcomed by no one: Every year in the United States more than a million girls under age 20—about one in every 10—become pregnant. About 82 percent of these pregnancies are unintended and about 42 percent of them are aborted.[1] The Children\'s Defense Fund, a Washington advocacy group, estimates that at least 40,000 teenage girls drop out of school every year because of pregnancy.
Though a majority of the public continues to favor a legal right......
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