
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 20, 1991                   TAG: 9103200017
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

TEEN BIRTH RATES FELL AFTER LAW TOOK EFFECT/ MINN. ABORTIONS DECREASED WITH

Researchers say teen abortion rates at first declined, then began rising again in Minnesota after the state enacted a law requiring parental notification before abortions can be performed on minors.

But the Wheaton College (Ill.) study found that the birth rates of teen-aged mothers declined steadily after the law took hold in 1981.

The study was published in the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

"This study is consistent with the hypothesis that conception among minor women may be reduced immediately following enactment of parental notification legislation when migratory abortion across state lines is not a viable alternative," the researchers said.

"However, generalizations to other states must be made cautiously, as Minnesota is a unique state with a low minority population and a low pregnancy rate even before the parental notice legislation," they said.

Minnesota's law requires girls 17 and younger to notify both parents or get court permission before an abortion can be performed. It was enacted in August 1981, but was struck down in March 1986. It was put into effect again in July 1990.

More than a dozen states have parental-notification and consent laws.

The study found that the abortion rate for 15- to 17-year-olds dropped from an average 19 per 1,000 during the three years before the law was enacted to an average of 13.6 per 1,000 from 1982 to 1985.

James L. Rogers, a Wheaton College psychology professor who led the study, said the decrease is significant when compared with other age groups. The comparable rate for 18- and 19-year-olds was 38.1 before the law and 34.6 after, a 9 percent decline. For women ages 20 to 44, the rate was 13.2 before the law and rose to 13.9 in the years after, the study showed.

"It was an age-specific event, which is what you should have" if the law is having an effect, he said. The age group that should be affected "is the 15- to 17-year-olds, and that's exactly the age group that is."

Several years after the Minnesota law went into effect but before it was struck down, the abortion rate for minor girls began edging up, Rogers' study showed. After plummeting from 19.57 per 1,000 in 1980 to 12.8 in 1983, the rate began rising and reached 14.54 in 1985 and 15.45 in 1987.

by CNB