Pregnant Women Support Act Study

In a ground-breaking study, Dr. Michael New, political science professor at the University of Alabama, proves that parental-involvement laws reduce the minor abortion rate by 13 to 31 percent when a state enacts laws to require parental consent or notification before a minor undergoes an abortion.  The involvement of 2 parents increases the likelihood that the teen will not choose an abortion.   The study compares data from the mid-80's when the abortion rate for 13 to 17 years olds was 13.5 per 1000.  By 1999, the number had decreased by almost 50 percent to 6.5 per 1000 for the same age group.  The numbers not only demonstrate the efficacy of parental involvement and notification laws, but prove that we can reduce the abortion rate by 95 percent in 10 years if we support legislation like the Child Custody Protection Act and the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act.

Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good recently published its own study concerning supporting pregnant women and how those types of programs affect the abortion rate.  In their study, CACG found that states with more generous grants for women, infants and children had a 37% lower abortion rate.