Parents see pros, cons to notification laws

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Many parents hold mixed views on laws that would require parental notification when teens get a prescription for birth control, according to a new survey.

The study, which included more than 1,000 parents in Minnesota and Wisconsin, found that they typically had complex attitudes toward the issue.

While more than half thought it was “a good idea” to require family planning clinics to get parents’ consent before prescribing birth control to minors, nearly all expected at least one negative consequence—such as higher rates of unprotected sex, pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers.

The findings, published in the February issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, reflect the mixed views that surround the issue of parental notification. Two states—Texas and Utah—and parts of Illinois already require some clinics to get parents’ permission before prescribing birth control to minors. And in recent years, federal lawmakers have repeatedly made similar proposals that would affect federally funded clinics.

Proponents claim parental notification is one way to promote abstinence and prevent teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.

Critics, including several professional medical organizations, argue that such laws will have the opposite effect because many teens will be unable to get effective birth control. In addition, they argue, teenagers may be unwilling to go to the doctor when they have a health problem out of fear their parents will be told.

Last month, a study of U.S. girls attending family planning clinics found that many said that if a parental notification law were enacted, they would switch to over-the-counter birth control methods such as condoms. Some said they would use no contraception at all, while 7 percent said they would stop having sex.

Little, however, has been known about what parents think about these laws, according to Dr. Marla E. Eisenberg of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

To find out, she and her colleagues surveyed 1,069 parents with children between the ages of 13 and 17. They asked mothers and fathers what they thought about policies that allow minors to get contraceptives from a clinic without parental consent, and what they thought about parental notification laws.

The results revealed a range of sometimes conflicting viewpoints. Overall, 49 percent of parents thought minors should be able to obtain contraceptives without consent, but 55 percent saw parental notification laws as a “good idea.” Some parents who said underage children should be able to obtain birth control without a parent’s consent also thought notification laws were a good idea.

“Our findings definitely suggest that parents have complex feelings about parental notification laws,” Eisenberg told Reuters Health.

She noted that although half of the parents liked the idea of these laws, the great majority—96 percent—anticipated at least one negative outcome, such as increases in teen pregnancy or STDs.

In addition, three-quarters believed teens would simply turn to birth control methods that don’t require a doctor’s visit, and few parents believed a notification law would encourage abstinence or cause teens to have less sex.

Yet a majority still thought it could make kids “think more” before having sex.

It’s possible, according to the researchers, that while many parents may believe their children have a right to confidential health care, they still support notification laws because they want to make sure they’re involved in their teenagers’ decisions.

Eisenberg suggested that parents talk openly with their children about “healthy decision-making” throughout adolescence. Past research, she pointed out, has suggested that faced with a parental notification law, it’s the teens who don’t speak with their parents who would be likely to switch to over-the-counter birth control or none at all.

A limitation of the current study, according to Eisenberg, is that it surveyed parents in only two U.S. states. Parents in other regions of country may be more or less supportive of notification laws.

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, February 2005. 

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