March 11, 2009 – Ibis Reproductive Health and the Guttmacher Institute released a new publication, "The Impact of Laws Requiring Parental Involvement for Abortion: A Literature Review." As of 2008, 34 states in the US have laws in effect that mandate parental involvement in minors’ abortions. According to this review, these laws appear to do little to reduce teen abortion or pregnancy rates and may cause harm to minors by forcing many to travel to states without parental involvement requirements or navigate complicated judicial bypass systems to obtain waivers. These barriers delay access to the procedure, reducing safety and resulting in later, more costly abortions. Many gaps in knowledge about parental involvement laws remain, available data is less than ideal, and no study has evaluated minors' experiences with these types of laws. Ibis Project Manager Amanda Dennis is the lead author on the report. Read the entire report here, or click here to read the press release.