Loving parents should be involved when their daughters face crisis pregnancies.  We all hope that a teen facing a crisis will seek the advice and counsel of those who care for her most and know her best.  In fact, even in the absence of laws mandating parental involvement, many young women do turn to their parents when they are considering abortion. 

Unfortunately, some young women cannot involve their parents because they come from homes where physical violence or emotional abuse is prevalent, because their pregnancies are the result of incest, or because they fear parental anger and disappointment.  In these circumstances, some young women feel they cannot involve their parents in the decision to terminate a crisis pregnancy.  Mandatory parental-involvement (consent and notice) laws do not solve the problem of troubled family communication; they only exacerbate a potentially dangerous situation.  

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