U.S. Teens Avoid Coercive Parental Involvement Laws by Using Telehealth Abortion Services

A new study shows teens in states with parental involvement laws are increasingly seeking abortion pills online to avoid judges, delays and unsafe alternatives.

March 10, 2026
by Carrie N. Baker and Shelby Hastings

The majority of U.S. teenagers live in states that require parental involvement in abortion healthcare decision-making. If parents are unavailable, or teens under 18 do not want to involve their parents, they must go to court and convince a judge that they are mature enough to decide on their own or that the abortion is in their best interest. To avoid this invasive and burdensome process, resourceful teens are now turning to abortion care from telehealth providers located outside their restrictive states, as documented by new research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2026/03/10/teens-abortion-pills-ban-states/

USA – Whose Abortion Is It?

The Harms of State-Mandated Parental Notification for Abortion and Judicial Bypass in the United States

Oct 29, 2025
Human Rights Watch

Years ago, Angela, now a staff member at an abortion clinic in the United States, became pregnant unexpectedly at age 16. She accessed abortion care with support from the person she trusted most: her mother. “I had an extremely supportive mother who helped me through that process,” she said. Angela’s experience shaped her commitment to defend everyone’s right to confidential reproductive health care with support from those they trust: “This is no one else’s choice and no one else’s business.” She began working for an abortion clinic a decade ago. “This was always what I wanted to do.” In July 2022, just after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade and eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, Angela and her family moved from a state that banned abortion to a state that protected access so that she could continue working in abortion care. Now she supports young people under 18 who need abortion care.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/10/29/whose-abortion-is-it/the-harms-of-state-mandated-parental-notification-for

Teen Abortion Access Remains Difficult Even in States Where Access is Protected

BY RACHEL JANFAZA
MARCH 11, 2024

A state like Massachusetts is considered a safe haven for abortion in a post-Dobbs America. But a first-of-its-kind report about national abortion access for youth from Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts’ ASPIRE Center for Sexual & Reproductive Health released on Monday called “The Minor Abortion Access Research and Advocacy Project” reveals that there are stark gaps in reproductive health care availability for minors – even in states that have expanded abortion access since the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

The group’s research found that oftentimes, parental involvement laws – which mandate minors’ parental permission before an abortion – or the judicial bypass process – which requires teens to go through the court system if they cannot ask their parents for consent to an abortion – stand between teens under the age of 18 and abortion, hindering young people’s bodily autonomy despite state policies meant to enhance reproductive health care access.

Continued: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/teen-abortion-access-remains-difficult-even-in-states-where-access-is-protected

How the Supreme Court’s Abortion Decision Left Many Youth Behind

BY ALEX BERG
DECEMBER 20, 2022

After having an abortion two years ago, B (whose name is withheld for privacy) didn’t think much about her experience with the procedure. As a 17 year-old at the time with a couple of months to go before her high school graduation, she “put it out of sight.” That was until June 24, 2022, the day the Supreme Court issued a decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in the United States.

“It really snapped me back into reality from it,” B, now 19, tells Teen Vogue.

Continued: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-the-supreme-courts-abortion-decision-left-many-youth-behind

Florida calls teen ‘too immature’ for an abortion. But forced motherhood is fine?

Jill Filipovic
hu 18 Aug 2022

A Florida court has held that a pregnant and parentless 16-year-old is not mature enough to have an abortion – but is, apparently, mature enough to raise a child after being forced into childbirth by the state.

This case illustrates the utter absurdity and deep cruelty of parental consent laws, which are in place in 21 states. While parental consent laws seem reasonable enough on their face – who wouldn’t want to know if their child was having an abortion? – they are in practice alternately duplicative or dangerous. If a parent is supportive of their child’s bodily autonomy and has raised that child into a thoughtful, mature teenager, that teenager will either feel comfortable telling their parents about an unplanned pregnancy, or will have the ability and wherewithal to make their own decision and get themselves to an abortion provider. If a parent is abusive or unsupportive of their child’s basic rights, why should the state put young people at risk by requiring that their parents be notified?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/18/florida-teen-abortion-forced-motherhood

18.08.2022

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USA – Long uncertain, young people’s access to abortion is more complicated than ever

Megan Burbank | NPR
August 13th, 2022

For
decades, young people have faced major barriers to abortion because of state
laws requiring parental involvement in the decision to terminate a pregnancy.
But now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s
Health Organization — and the federal right to an abortion is gone — access is
even more complex for adolescents.

In states where abortion is heavily restricted, advocates are fighting back:
They’re shoring up legal support for young women seeking abortion and taking to
social media platforms like TikTok to counter misinformation.
https://www.wabe.org/long-uncertain-young-peoples-access-to-abortion-is-more-complicated-than-ever

USA – Teenagers already face extra barriers to abortion care. It’s about to get worse.

Will states seeking to provide safe haven for abortion patients in the wake of Roe reconsider their parental consent laws?

Sara Sirota
June 19 2022

THANKS TO A draconian new law, a pregnant Texan who wants an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy now has no other choice but to leave the state. She could go to Louisiana or Arkansas, but they have tight restrictions and trigger laws in place to outright ban the procedure when Roe v. Wade is overturned. Nearby Oklahoma is not an option either, since the government already effectively outlawed abortions in May.

The only remaining neighbor is New Mexico, where patients who have the means to travel can receive care under some of the country’s most liberal regulations. But New Mexico’s clinics have limited capacity: In 2019, the state’s providers performed about 3,800 abortions, compared to more than 55,000 in Texas. For many of those unable to secure an appointment, the next closest option is Colorado, a state with no gestational age limits, waiting periods, or other controls.

Continued: https://theintercept.com/2022/06/19/abortion-minors-parents-roe/

USA – A process that allows minors to get an abortion could disappear if Roe falls

June 14, 2022
Ailsa Chang, Jonaki Mehta, Sarah Handel

B was at her partner's house one day when she had a gut instinct, a churning feeling inside her body that led her to take a pregnancy test.

"I kind of went robotic and shut everything out, any emotions or anything," she said. "I felt like my whole life was going to go down the drain because that's how society portrays it."

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/14/1104649399/scotus-roe-v-wade-abortion-minors-law-texas

14.06.2022

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With Roe set to fall, minors seeking abortion have few choices left

June 8, 2022
Ailsa Chang, Jonaki Mehta, Sarah Handel 8-Minute Listen with Transcript

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Rosann Mariappuram of Jane's Due Process about the impact Roe's fall would have on abortion access for minors. A teenager shares her experience navigating judicial bypass.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:
As we await the Supreme Court decision that's likely to drop later this month, potentially overturning federal abortion protections across this country, we wanted to talk about some of the most vulnerable people who do seek abortions - minors. And we're going to start with a story of a young woman in Texas whom we will call B. That's her first initial. She's not ready for her family to know her story. B was 17 in her senior year of high school back at the end of 2020. She was at her partner's house one day when she had a sinking feeling.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2022/06/08/1103785044/with-roe-set-to-fall-minors-seeking-abortion-have-few-choices-left

A Judge Allowed a Louisiana Teen to Get an Abortion. So Her Mom Sued the State.

Advocates say this judicial bypass case is a grim look at how anti-abortion activists use their connections with state lawmakers to advance their agenda.

Nov 9, 2021
Caroline Reilly, Rewire News

In October, a Louisiana teen asked a state judge to be allowed to have an abortion. She was seeking a judicial bypass—the procedure in which young people who cannot involve a parent in their abortion decision can be granted permission by a judge.

Her mother sued the state to stop it.

Despite the constitutionality of judicial bypass, which must exist in the states that require parental involvement for minors’ abortions, the Louisiana mother’s challenge was enough for a judge to grant a temporary restraining order, blocking all judicial bypasses in the state.

Continued: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2021/11/09/a-judge-allowed-a-louisiana-teen-to-get-an-abortion-so-her-mom-sued-the-state/