LETTER: Parental notification of abortions undermines doctor-patient relationship

To the editor:

Forcing a scared, pregnant teenager to notify her parents before seeking medical care to terminate her pregnancy is not only harmful to young women, it also severely undermines the doctor-patient relationship.

That is why the Nevada section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists opposes Assembly Bill 405, which would force young women to notify parents prior to seeking an abortion.

As a health care provider, I see firsthand how important it is for a woman to have access to accurate information and full support in making her decisions. But this bill, which would force all young women to notify their parents prior to seeking abortion care, would impact our most vulnerable youth. Every young person should include their parents in decisions about their health care, but the reality is that not everyone can. Young women afraid of talking to their parents about a pregnancy — for whatever reason — may take matters into their own hands and turn to unsafe and unreliable options.

Currently, abortion is treated just like other reproductive health issues. For example, young people do not have to notify their parents to access testing for sexually transmitted infections. And while it may be true that teenagers need permission from their parents to get a tattoo, that is a completely unfair comparison. Receiving a tattoo is not the same as receiving health care. When a patient confides in her physician to have an abortion, this is an individual health care decision that is part of the doctor-patient relationship. As part of this confidential relationship, the physician should ask the patient, if she is a minor, about the circumstances that led to the decision, and whether any parent or guardian was involved in the decision making process. However, notification and consent from a parent must not be mandatory. Additionally, there are many reasons why a young woman would not be able to talk to her parents. Youth who are homeless, trafficking victims, or abused may not have anyone to go to. Why would we want to subject them to a potentially lengthy court procedure when what they really need is a caring medical provider?

My patients who have chosen to have a termination of pregnancy are very grateful for the confidence and privacy that I am able to provide during this sensitive and emotional time.

Having to delay for either parental notification or for possible court action would likely cause a patient to lose her trust in me as a provider. The emotional toll that will be placed on these young women, in my opinion, would be horrific, unimaginable and unnecessary.

Further, I cannot imagine how this process would occur. The administrative burden of getting to a court, in front of a judge, with this type of sensitive subject matter and with this young of a patient, will likely become a nightmare for the citizens and the workers of our state. The amount of time that OB/GYN providers and abortion providers would need to spend to help facilitate this process will slow down our office flow, causing patients to not be seen in a timely fashion. This would be a terribly inefficient use of physician and provider time, especially as our state faces manpower shortages in OB/GYN and primary care providers.

KEITH R. BRILL, M.D.

HENDERSON

The writer is chairman of the Nevada section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.