They are well-organized, they have a strong presence at the State House, and they are actively pressuring legislators to bring H.450, the parental notification bill, up for debate. If H.450 passes, the anti-choice activists will have achieved the first step in their goal to end safe and legal abortion in Vermont. Family communication cannot be mandated or legislated. Legislation mandating parental involvement does not achieve the intended benefit of promoting family communication. Only parents can open the lines of communication with their children.
Most minors communicate with their families about a pregnancy.
A 1991 study of unmarried minors having abortions in states without parental involvement laws found that 61 percent of respondents reported that at least one of their parents knew of their abortion. Among respondents who did not inform their parents, all consulted someone in addition to clinic staff about their abortions, such as a boyfriend, another adult, or another professional. The burden of the mandate would fall most heavily upon the disadvantaged. The burden of a mandate would fall most heavily upon young women who are disadvantaged by conditions of poverty, broken homes, lack of education, and domestic abuse - a population already at the highest risk for unplanned and unwanted pregnancies. Young women who do not involve a parent have good reasons.