New Jersey § 9:17a-1

§ 9:17a-1.

The Legislature finds that there exist compelling and important State interests in

protecting minors against their own immaturity, in fostering the family structure

and preserving it as a viable social unit, and in protecting the rights of parents

to rear their children. The Legislature further finds that minors often lack the ability to make fully informed

choices that take into account both immediate and long-range consequences of their

actions; that the medical, emotional, and psychological consequences of abortion

are serious and of indeterminate duration, particularly when the patient is a minor;

that parents ordinarily possess information essential to a physician's exercise of

his best medical judgment concerning their child; and that parents who are aware

that their minor daughter has had an abortion may better insure that the minor receives

adequate medical attention after her abortion. The Legislature further finds that parental consultation regarding abortion is desirable

and in the best interests of the minor. It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature to further the interests stated above

by enacting this parental notice provision.