Teenage Abortions

The abortion rate among teens ages 15 to 17 has declined by more than a third since 1990, from 26.5 abortions per 1,000 teens in 1990 to 15.2 abortions per 1,000 teens in 1999. Overall, teen abortion rates have been declining since the late 1980s.

Younger teens tend to have a lower ratio, while for older teens the ratio is higher, and the reasons are often related to peer pressure, not being ready to parent, and lack of family support.

State laws on whether or not parents (or an adult) need to be notified about a teen abortion vary from none (no notification or permission required), to notification required before the abortion, to permission required. For information on states’ requirements, see TeenAbortion.org.