Press Release: 2/25/2025

ROE Act Reduced Significant Delays in Abortion Access for Young People, Study Confirms

 

For Immediate Release: Feb. 24, 2025 (Updated: Feb. 24, 2025, 3:25 p.m.)

New Research from Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts shows that after the ROE Act went into effect, 16- and 17-year-old abortion seekers received care at nearly one week earlier gestation 

BOSTON – New research from Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts (PPLM) published in the American Journal of Public Health demonstrates that eliminating the parental consent requirement for 16- and 17-year-olds significantly improved abortion access for young people in Massachusetts. The research, which examined data on gestational age at abortion among 16–17-year-old patients and an older control group at PPLM before and after the ROE Act went into effect in December 2020, found that the ROE Act was associated with an average 5-day drop in gestational age at abortion among those 16-17 years old. 

“Our findings suggest that eliminating the parental consent requirement for 16 and 17 year olds enabled them to access abortion more quickly in Massachusetts. Timeliness of care is a key quality metric in health care. By enabling young people to access abortion more quickly, the ROE Act improved quality of care for this group of young people,” said Elizabeth Janiak, ScD, Director of Social Science Research at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. 

Prior research from Janiak, Fulcher, and other researchers at PPLM showed that minors without parental consent for abortion were twice as likely to become ineligible for medication abortion as those with parental consent. It also showed that those who couldn’t obtain parental consent and used the alternative process known as judicial bypass experienced an average two-week delay in accessing abortion, and these differences disproportionately impacted young people of color and those with low incomes. 

"Delays force minors into later gestational durations, increasing the cost of abortion care and limiting their options. A few days' delay can mean the difference between a patient being able to access medication abortion, which is often the preferred method for young people, or requiring a procedural abortion,” said Isabel Fulcher, PhD, the principal researcher on the study. “By demonstrating that eliminating the parental consent requirement for some young people improves access to time-sensitive care, we hope these finding will encourage lawmakers to remove this barrier for all young people.” 

The ROE Act, which passed December 2020, codified the right to abortion in Massachusetts and reduced the age at which people can self-consent to abortion care from 18 to 16. A billthat would allow all young people to self-consent to abortion, consistent with their right to consent to all other sexual and reproductive health care, was recently filed in the Massachusetts legislature. 

For more information or to speak to an expert about this research, please contact Caroline Kimball-Katz, Communications Director, at ckimballkatz@pplm.org.  

Full Citation and title:  

Fulcher I, Kimball K, Rosen Z, Fortin J, Arunkumar N, Gelfand D, Janiak E, Ireland L.  Changes to parental consent requirements for abortion in Massachusetts and impact on timeliness of care for minors aged 16 to 17 years. Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print February 12, 2025:e1–e6. Acceptance Date: November 4, 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307918