s recognized, "an increased risk of complication in subsequent pregnancies."(8) The effects of an abortion decision may remain with an adolescent for the rest of her life. That is all the more reason that her parents' right to be involved should not be usurped by another adult surreptitiously taking her out of state. Young adolescent girls are particularly at risk of certain detrimental medical consequences from an abortion. For instance, there is a greater risk of cervical injury associated with suction-curettage abortions (at 12 weeks' gestation or earlier) performed on girls 17 or younger.(9) Cervical injury is of serious concern because it may predispose the young girl to adverse outcomes in future pregnancies. Girls 17 or younger also face a two and a half times greater risk of acquiring endometriosis following an abortion than do women 20-29 years old.(10)In short, the physical and psychological risks of abortions to minors are great, and laws requiring parental involvement in such abortions (subject to judicial bypass procedures) reduce that risk. The widespread practice of avoiding such laws through interstate commerce may be prevented only through federal legislation.III. The Prevalence of This Interstate Activity There is no serious dispute regarding the fact that the transportation of minors across state lines in order to obtain abortions is both a widespread and frequent practice. Even groups opposed to this bill acknowledge that large numbers of minors are transported across state lines to obtain abortions, in many cases by adults other than their parents. In 1995, Kathryn Kolbert, then an attorney with the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (a national pro-abortion legal defense organization) asserted that thousands of adults are helping minors cross state lines to get abortions in states whose parental involvement requirements are less stringent or non-existent: "There are thousands of minors who cross state lines for...
