No, you do not have to be 18 to get an abortion in much of the United States, but whether a minor can obtain one — and on what terms — depends entirely on the state. About a dozen states and the District of Columbia let people under 18 consent to the procedure on their own. Roughly 25 states where abortion is legal require some form of parental involvement first. Thirteen states ban abortion at any age.
States Where Abortion Is Banned for Everyone
Since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, thirteen states have enacted total bans on abortion. Age is irrelevant in these states. Adults and minors alike cannot legally obtain the procedure except under narrow exceptions that usually require a life-threatening medical emergency.1Guttmacher Institute. State Bans on Abortion Throughout Pregnancy
A minor in one of these states who wants an abortion has to travel to a state where the procedure remains legal. That raises its own legal issues, addressed below.
States Where Minors Can Consent on Their Own
About a dozen states and the District of Columbia have no parental involvement requirements at all. A person under 18 can consent to an abortion the same way an adult would. No parental permission, no notification, no court order.2Guttmacher Institute. Minors’ Access to Abortion Care
The list of these states changes as legislatures act and courts rule. Check the current law in your state before making plans. A state with no restrictions last year may have added them since.
States That Require a Parent’s Involvement
Thirty-eight states have laws requiring some form of parental involvement when a minor seeks an abortion, though about a third of those states also enforce total abortion bans that make the involvement laws moot. In the roughly 25 states where abortion remains legal and parental involvement applies, the rules fall into two categories.2Guttmacher Institute. Minors’ Access to Abortion Care
Parental consent means a parent or legal guardian must give written permission before the abortion can happen. Without that documented approval, a provider cannot legally perform the procedure. Twenty-one states take this approach.
Parental notification is less restrictive. The provider must inform a parent that the minor plans to have an abortion, usually 24 or 48 hours before the procedure, but the parent has no legal power to block it. Ten states require only notification. Seven states require both consent and notification.2Guttmacher Institute. Minors’ Access to Abortion Care
Most of these laws require involvement from just one parent or legal guardian. A small number of states require both parents to consent or be notified, which adds difficulty when parents are divorced, estranged, or unreachable.
Who Counts as a Parent
“Parent” in these laws doesn’t always mean a biological mother or father. Legal guardians qualify in every state with a parental involvement rule. Beyond that, the specifics vary. Some states allow a grandparent to give consent or receive notification, particularly if the minor lives with that grandparent. Others accept any adult family member or a person acting in a parental role. A few states let a healthcare provider waive the requirement under certain circumstances.2Guttmacher Institute. Minors’ Access to Abortion Care
If a parent or guardian has died, cannot be located, or has had parental rights terminated, most states allow the minor to proceed through other channels rather than being stuck indefinitely.
When the Parental Rule Doesn’t Apply
Even in states that require parental consent or notification, the law carves out exceptions for situations where parental involvement would be dangerous or impractical.
Medical Emergencies
Thirty-seven of the 38 states with parental involvement laws include a medical emergency exception. If a physician determines that waiting to get parental consent would put the minor’s life at risk or cause serious, irreversible harm, the procedure can go forward immediately.2Guttmacher Institute. Minors’ Access to Abortion Care
Abuse or Incest
About sixteen states include exceptions or modified procedures when the pregnancy resulted from abuse or incest by a parent or family member. The provider may proceed without parental involvement after documenting the circumstances, and in some cases must report the abuse to child protective services.
Emancipated and Married Minors
Minors who have been legally emancipated — meaning a court has granted them adult legal status — or who are married are generally exempt from parental involvement requirements. An emancipated minor can consent to medical care on their own, including abortion. Some states require documentation of that status before a provider will proceed.
Going to a Judge Instead of a Parent
A minor who can’t use any of those exceptions and doesn’t want to or can’t involve a parent has one more option in most states with parental involvement laws: judicial bypass. This is a confidential court proceeding in which the minor asks a judge for permission to have an abortion without parental consent or notification.
The process starts with filing a petition in local court. The minor uses a pseudonym or initials, not their real name, and all records are sealed. In most states, the minor needs to convince the judge of one of two things: either that they are mature and informed enough to make the decision independently, or that having the abortion without parental involvement is in their best interest. Only one standard needs to be met.
Judges evaluating maturity look at whether the minor understands what an abortion involves, has considered alternatives, and can articulate the reasons behind the decision. Age, employment, living situation, school performance, and emotional stability all factor in. The “best interest” standard is broader. Abuse, neglect, or a parent who would retaliate can be enough on their own; even without abuse, a judge can find bypass appropriate based on the full picture.
Courts move quickly on these petitions because delays in abortion care have real medical consequences. Most states require the hearing within days of filing and a decision shortly after. Hearings take place privately in the judge’s chambers, attended only by the minor, their attorney, and sometimes a guardian ad litem. Most states require the court to appoint a lawyer for the minor at no cost. Abortion providers often keep referral lists for attorneys experienced with bypass cases, and some legal aid organizations handle these petitions.
If the judge denies the petition, the minor can appeal, and those appeals are expedited too.
Crossing State Lines
When abortion is banned or heavily restricted at home, traveling to a state with more permissive laws is often the practical option. The state where the abortion is performed generally applies its own laws. If that state has no parental involvement requirement, the minor doesn’t need parental consent there, even if the home state would have required it.
Roughly 18 states and the District of Columbia have passed shield laws that protect abortion providers and anyone who helps a patient from facing criminal or civil penalties originating in another state. These laws also protect patient medical records from being shared with law enforcement in states that restrict abortion.
Working in the opposite direction, a handful of states have passed or proposed “abortion trafficking” laws that make it a crime to help a minor obtain an out-of-state abortion without parental consent. These statutes target anyone who transports, harbors, or provides information to a minor about getting an abortion in another state without a parent’s knowledge. Penalties can include felony charges with years of prison time, and some laws also allow the minor’s parents to sue for civil damages. Whether these laws can reach someone physically located in a shield-law state remains unsettled.
Any minor or adult thinking about interstate travel for abortion care should research the specific laws in both the home state and the destination state. The rules are shifting quickly enough that what was true six months ago may not be true now.