Reply #44: Here's some info on the effects of such laws... [View All]

[Solon]

On the 24 hour delay, facts from Mississippi:

Women's Health at Risk

In August 1992, Mississippi became the first state to enforce a mandatory delay and biased information requirement that forces a woman to travel twice to a health care provider - once for the mandated information and a second time for the abortion. Data compiled by the Alan Guttmacher Institute reveals that that the law has forced some women to delay or even forego the abortion procedure. The number of Mississippi women obtaining abortions was thirteen percent lower than expected during the five months following implementation of the law. The mandatory delay also resulted in an eighteen percent increase in the proportion of abortions performed in the second trimester of pregnancy.

While abortion is one of the safest medical procedures performed today, risks of complications increase as the weeks progress. The Alan Guttmacher Institute has found that cost, location and availability of services are cited by nearly one-half of women having abortions beyond fifteen weeks gestation. Laws mandating delays can increase cost and force women to travel a great distance twice, while forcing physicians to provide the counseling in lieu of other health workers further strains the availability of services.

http://www.crlp.org/pub_fac_manddelay2.html

Analysis about Parental Notification laws:

http://www.crlp.org/pub_fac_mandconsent.html

Some facts about Parental Notification laws:

Judge Nixon of The district court in Tennessee estimated "that even under the best of circumstances, the waiver process would take twenty-two days to complete - a significant problem given the time-sensitive nature of pregnancy and the increased risk involved in later abortions."
The American Academy of Pediatrics stated that "Legislation mandating parental involvement does not achieve the intended benefit of promoting family communication, but it does increase the risk of harm to the adolescent by delaying access to appropriate medical care...Minors should not be compelled or required to involve their parents in their decisions to obtain abortions, although they should be encouraged to discuss their pregnancies with their parents and other responsible adults."
An American Medical Association study in 1992 showed that mandatory parental involvement laws "increase the gestational age at which the induced pregnancy termination occurs, thereby also increasing the risk associated with the procedure."
The American Medical Association noted that because "the need for privacy may be compelling, minors may be driven to desperate measures to maintain the confidentiality of their pregnancies. They may run away from home, obtain a 'back alley' abortion, or resort to self-induced abortion. The desire to maintain secrecy has been one of the leading reasons for illegal abortion deaths since...1973."

Link: http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_pare.htm

So, read up and get educated, do you really think these laws help young women, or are they just there to control them?