Minors Wanting an Abortion Should Need Parental Consent, Albertans Tell Survey

A bed in need of cleaning is moved in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at St. Paul’s hospital in downtown Vancouver on April 21, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward)

A majority of Albertans are in favour of requiring parental consent and/or notification for minors seeking abortions, according to a survey by National Public Research Canada (NPRC).

The poll, which involved robocall outreach to over 6,000 individuals across the province, delved into public opinions on the contentious issue of abortion, shedding light on the prevailing sentiments among Alberta’s populace.

The survey’s findings indicate that 52 percent of respondents are in favour of both parental notification and consent for minors who want an abortion, while an additional 10 percent support notification only, resulting in a total of 62 percent backing some form of parental involvement. Thirty percent of those surveyed believe that neither consent nor notification should be mandated, and nine percent remained undecided on the matter.

Alberta law permits minors to consent to abortion based not on their age but on their capacity to understand the procedure and its implications, reported CTV News. There were 226 abortions recorded in Alberta among minors aged 17 and under in 2021, as reported by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, out of the total 11,223 abortions performed in the province that year.

The timing of the poll comes just days after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s announcement of regulations affecting Albertans who identify as transgender.

Provincial regulations implemented on Jan. 31 require schools to secure parental consent for students aged 15 and younger who want to be recognized with alternative pronouns. For students aged 16 and 17, schools are obligated to notify parents of their requests for pronoun changes, although parental approval is not required.

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The Alberta government, in a statement issued through email to CTV News on Friday, announced, “there are no further policies being considered” concerning minors, aside from the already proposed regulations regarding youth who identify as transgender.

Analyzing the abortion survey results on a city-by-city basis reveals varying levels of support for parental consent and notification. Lethbridge recorded the highest support at 56 percent, with Edmonton at the lower end with 44 percent support.

Opposition to parental consent and notification was most pronounced in Edmonton, where 37 percent of respondents were against, compared to 33 percent in Calgary and 28 percent in Lethbridge. The survey also highlighted that outside of these major cities, 59 percent of Albertans support both parental notification and consent.

The poll, conducted using Interactive Voice Response technology on Feb. 1, reached out to 37,300 Albertans, achieving a 16.2 percent response rate from 6,047 participants. There was a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points, and the results were adjusted for age and gender demographics within the province.