Should Minors Receive Parental Consent before Having an Abortion?

Abortion is a very sensitive, yet popular, topic that is plaguing the United States. According to Merriam-Webster, abortion is, “A medical procedure used to end a pregnancy and cause the death of a fetus.” (n.d.). According to Griffin-Carlson &Mackin (1993), “In 1988, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that there were 1,371,285 abortions in the United States, 25% of which were obtained by women under 19. Researches at the National Center for Health Statistics estimated that of the 1.1 million pregnancies among teenagers in 1981, 40% ended in abortion, 13% in miscarriage, and 47% in live births (p. 1). Abortion is a sensitive topic because there are many individuals who believe that abortion is murder. On the other hand, there are others that believe that it is up to the mom to make the decision regarding the fetus, whether it is death or the continuation of life. The controversy surrounding this topic is vast, that it has even been taken to Congress, in hopes of making it illegal to receive/perform abortions. When a pregnant minor is thrown in the scenario, the arguments intensify. This paper will delve into the topic of whether minors should be required to receive parental consent for abortions.
The history behind abortions is very intriguing. The National Abortion Federation asserts that abortions have been performed for thousands of years and were generally performed before quickening, or before the mom felt any fetal movement in the uterus (Abortion was legal section, para. 1). Laws that made abortions illegal were being passed during the 1800s because the early settlers didn’t want to be outnumbered by immigrant children (Making Abortion Illegal section, para.1). In the beginning, abortion procedures cau...

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