Parental Involvement in Minors' Abortion Decisions, 1990-91
Investigators: Stanley K. Henshaw & Kathryn Kost

The 1990-91 Alan Guttmacher Institute Survey of Parental Involvement in Minors' Abortion Decisions studied the abortion decision-making behavior of pregnant minors to determine whom they consulted in abortion decisions. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed in abortion facilities to collect data on young women aged 17 and younger who were having an abortion in states without parental notification requirements. Forty-six abortion facilities provided data for 1,519 patients who received an abortion during a twelve-week period between December 1990 and June 1991. The questionnaire assessed perceptions of parental attitudes toward respondents' sexual behavior; communication between respondents, parents, and others about the abortion decision; parental reaction to the abortion; the consequences of informing parents about the abortion; and demographic measures including race, religion, school enrollment, and household composition. This Data Set includes data from 1,519 respondents on 344 variables.