Can I get an Abortion Without my Parents’ Permission? Publicly Available Information About Age and Parental Consent for Abortion in Canada

IF 2.2 Q2 OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY

Journal of obstetrics and gynaecology Canada Pub Date : 2025-09-05 DOI:10.1016/j.jogc.2025.103099

Eleanor McGrath BComm, MSW

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate the availability and clarity of online abortion access information in Canada and identify, through the lens of a minor, if websites provide a clear answer to: “Can I get an abortion without my parents’ permission?”

Methods

Using ChoiceConnect, 139 abortion providers and 17 health resource websites were identified for analysis. Provider information was searched to discover an associated website. Identified websites were searched using Boolean operators for plain-language keywords on abortion access for minors (‘abortion,’ ‘consent,’ ‘permission,’ ‘parent,’ or ‘age,’) followed by manual searches. Results were classified as: (1) no abortion information; (2) no consent information; or (3) included consent information. Those that included consent information were further categorized thematically as either (1) statements that parental consent is not required; (2) statement regarding capacity to consent; or (3) stating an age of consent. These categories overlapped in some cases.

Results

Of the 139 providers, 72 had identifiable websites. Of those, 14 (19%) did not mention abortion and 28 (39%) provided information about parental or age of consent. Among those 28, 20 (74%) stated no parental consent was required, 10 (37%) mentioned capacity to consent, and 6 (22%) indicated an age to consent. Overall, 75% of providers and resources did not have a website, mention abortion, or provide consent information.

Conclusions

There is a lack of clear information online about minors’ abortion care access without parental consent. Absence of information presents a substantial barrier to abortion care access for minors.

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我可以在没有父母允许的情况下堕胎吗？加拿大关于年龄和父母同意堕胎的公开信息。

目的：调查加拿大在线堕胎信息的可用性和清晰度，并通过未成年人的视角确定网站是否为“我可以在未经父母允许的情况下堕胎吗？”提供了明确的答案。方法：使用ChoiceConnect对139家人工流产服务提供者和17家健康资源网站进行分析。搜索提供商信息以发现关联网站。对确定的网站使用布尔运算符搜索有关未成年人堕胎途径的简单语言关键词（“堕胎”、“同意”、“许可”、“父母”或“年龄”），然后进行人工搜索。结果分为：1-无流产信息；2-无同意信息；或3-包括同意信息。那些包含同意信息的内容被进一步分类为：1-不需要父母同意的声明；2-关于同意能力的声明；或3岁-说明同意年龄。这些类别在某些情况下是重叠的。结果：在139家供应商中，72家有可识别的网站。其中，14个（19%）没有提到堕胎，28个（39%）提供了父母或同意年龄的信息。在这28人中，20人（74%）表示不需要父母的同意，10人（37%）提到了同意的能力，6人（22%）表示同意的年龄。总的来说，75%的提供者和资源没有网站，没有提到堕胎，也没有提供同意信息。结论：网上缺乏关于未成年人未经父母同意获得人工流产护理的明确信息。缺乏信息是未成年人获得堕胎护理的一个重大障碍。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of obstetrics and gynaecology Canada OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY-

CiteScore

3.30

自引率

5.60%

发文量

302

审稿时长

32 days

期刊介绍： Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada (JOGC) is Canada"s peer-reviewed journal of obstetrics, gynaecology, and women"s health. Each monthly issue contains original research articles, reviews, case reports, commentaries, and editorials on all aspects of reproductive health. JOGC is the original publication source of evidence-based clinical guidelines, committee opinions, and policy statements that derive from standing or ad hoc committees of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. JOGC is included in the National Library of Medicine"s MEDLINE database, and abstracts from JOGC are accessible on PubMed.