Compared with many surrounding states, abortion care in Virginia is legal and accessible. But if you are pregnant and under 18, it can be a different story. Like 35 other states, Virginia mandates that minors seeking an abortion involve their parents, guardians, or other adult family members. Moreover, Virginia requires that the minor notify the adult of their decision 24 hours in advance, and obtain a written statement of consent, which must be notarized. The myriad regulations confound not only teens, but also parents and court systems.
I led a recently published study of abortion access laws in Virginia. Even as the state generally provides accessible abortion care through the second trimester for adults, the rules for minors have many burdensome implications for clinics, hospitals, and patients.
Some clinics make an effort to have a commissioned public notary on their staff. Still, as one clinic administrator explained, there are times no one is available, or their stamp has expired. When no staff notaries were available one week, the administrator recalled, they had to scramble to find another local notary at a nearby financial institution. “The patient traveled so far, and now had to pay more money out of pocket,” the administrator said.
The rules for minors have many burdensome implications for clinics, hospitals, and patients.
Virginia law also allows public notaries to refuse service for any reason, despite guidelines discouraging refusals based on personal beliefs or biases.
Not all minors have parents or guardians who will provide consent for an abortion, either. Some may even fear disclosing that they are pregnant. In such cases, there is a process known as judicial bypass where the minor goes before a judge to get authorization to act without a parent's consent.
This comes with its own complications. Minors have to demonstrate to the court that it is in their best interest to not notify a parent, and that they are mature enough to have an abortion. However, not all judges fully understand the statute guiding this process. One person interviewed for our study called different court systems to get clarity on what's entailed for judicial bypass; their questions were often met with uncertainty or total unawareness of the process. In smaller jurisdictions, there can also be concerns about confidentiality for minors seeking a judicial bypass. There can be limited knowledge among local bar associations. Add to that a reticence for lawyers to pick up these types of cases, which means many minors may not have reliable or trusted legal resources if they want or need to pursue this bypass option.
All this comes in stark contrast to the legal protections given to minors seeking pregnancy care. In Virginia—and many other states—laws specifically give minors the right to get prenatal care, as well as labor and delivery care, without notifying a parent. Virginia's code specifically notes they “shall be deemed an adult” to consent to their own care and the care for the delivery of a child. As one clinic representative shared, “If we can trust a 16- or 17-year-old to carry a pregnancy and parent, we should be able to trust that same person to make their own reproductive health decisions.”
Minors are granted agency to direct their own medical care when they choose to stay pregnant, but not when they want an abortion.
In general, laws that require parental involvement when a minor gets an abortion are linked to decreased abortion rates and increased birth and pregnancy rates for those under 18. These laws also may lead young people to travel out-of-state for abortions and thus result in then procedures being performed later in the pregnancy. What Virginia has now is a legal paradox: Minors are granted agency to direct their own medical care when they choose to stay pregnant, but not when they want an abortion.
This raises important questions: Is this what Virginia lawmakers intended? Is the notification/consent requirement providing benefit or might there be other options for fostering parental engagement without a legal mandate? From 2023 to 2024 (PDF), in-person abortions increased by 13 percent, and telehealth abortions by 53 percent. That makes it a crucial moment to re-examine these policies and their effects.
