Adolescents’ Reports of Parental Knowledge of Adolescents’ Use of Sexual Health Services and Their Reactions to Mandated Parental Notification for Prescription Contraception

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Abstract
Parents generally have the legal authority to make medical decisions on behalf of their children. Because it is often assumed that many teenagers would avoid seeking medical services for contraception or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) if they were required to involve parents, over the last 30 years many states have passed laws giving adolescents younger than 18 years (minors) the right to consent to a range of sexual health services. All 50 states and the District of Columbia allow most minors to consent to STD testing and treatment.1 Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia explicitly allow all minors to consent to contraceptive services, and another 14 confirm the right for certain categories of minors, such as those who have had a previous birth.2 Where the law is silent, the decision of whether to allow minors to consent to services is left to the discretion of the clinician.3