Mandatory parental involvement in contraceptive services for minors.

Abstract

This article examines the issues that are raised by the requirement of mandatory parental notification in cases where adolescents are provided with contraceptives. In 1982, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced its intention to institute a new regulation requiring family planning clinics funded under Title X of the Public Health Service Act to notify parents or guardians of unemancipated minors under 18 years of age within 10 days after the adolescent received prescrrption contraceptive devices or drugs. Although this regulation has not been put into effect, it may reappear in the legislative process and social workers should be prepared to respond. Such a regulation undermines a key objective of Title X to reach teenagers through counseling, education, and confidential medical services that would prevent unwanted pregnancies. Mandatory parental notification would force many teenagers to use less effective contraceptive methods or none at all. It further ignores the harmful effect of forcing a confrontation within a family in which a lack of communication may already be a problem. It has been estimated that parental notification stipulations would result in 33,000 more unwanted pregnancies among teenagers 17 years of age and younger who are now practicing effective contraception. School social workers are urged to experiment with varying approaches that have better changes of building ties to the family than parental notification regulations. If the regulation is put in place, social workers and other professionals must be prepared to help students and their families cope as effectively as possible with the practical reality of the situation.