By Gudrun Schultz
AUSTIN, Texas, March 9, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The number of teen abortions in Texas fell significantly after the state enacted a parental notification law, a new study has found.
The study, by researchers at Baruch College at City University of New York, found an 11 to 20 percent drop in abortion rates among 15-17-year old girls, compared to rates among 18-year olds who were not affected by the law. The result was taken from information comparing abortion rates among teenage girls during the two years before and after the law was put in place.
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Abortion opponents are hailing the study as a solid victory for life. The study directly contradicts a report released earlier this week by the New York Times, which reported little effect on teen abortion rates in six states with parental notification laws.
Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, told the Chronicle he was thrilled with the study, and optimistic that Texas’ new law requiring not only parental notification, but also parental consent, will “have a bigger effect on reducing abortions and pregnancy for minor girls.”
“Our law is working,” he said. “It shows just what we were hoping would happen.”
Lead researcher for the study Ted Joyce said he supports abortion rights. He told the Houston Chronicle he hopes the study will draw attention to the “adverse outcomes” of parental notification laws.
Abortion advocates have largely bypassed the results showing a reduction in abortions, instead concentrating on results from the study showing a 34% increase in second-trimester abortions among girls who are 17 ½ years old. They say the law forces girls to have abortions in the more dangerous later months of a pregnancy.
The Baruch College study has been praised for its thoroughness by both sides—the findings were published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine.
See LifeSiteNews related coverage:
Texas Governor Signs Abortion Parent Consent and Gay-Marriage Ban Bills
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jun/05060608.html