Abortion is a very sensitive, yet popular, topic plaguing the United States. According to Merriam-Webster, abortion is “A medical procedure used to terminate a pregnancy and cause the death of a fetus.” (n.d.). According to Griffin-Carlson & Mackin (1993), “In 1988, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that there were 1,371,285 abortions in the United States, 25% of which were obtained by women under 19 years old. Research at the National Center for Health Statistics estimates that of 1.1 million teen pregnancies in 1981, 40% ended in miscarriage, 13% in miscarriages, and 47% in live births (p. 1 ). Abortion is a sensitive topic because there are many people who believe that abortion is murder. Others, however, believe that it is up to the mother to make the decision regarding the fetus, whether it is death or continued life. The controversy on this topic is vast, so much so that it has even been brought to Congress, in the hope of making it illegal to receive/perform abortions. When a pregnant minor is brought into the scene, the discussions intensify. This article will delve into the topic of whether minors should be required to receive parental consent for abortions. The story behind abortions is very intriguing. The National Abortion Federation states that abortions have been performed for thousands of years and were generally performed before a pregnancy developed, or before the mother felt any fetal movement in the uterus (Abortion was legal section, par . 1). Laws making abortion illegal were passed during the 1800s because early settlers did not want to be outnumbered by immigrant children (Making Abortion Illegal section, par.1). Early on, abortion procedures caused… middle of paper… double differences in religion, political affiliation, and attributional style among college students. Individual Differences Research, 11(2), 59-69.Norris, J. A., Garinger, G., & Kurtz, N. C. (1978). Some selected recent judicial decisions. American Journal of Law & Medicine, 5(1), 1-2.Norris, J. A., Garinger, G., & Kurtz, N. C. (1979). Some selected recent judicial decisions. American Journal of Law & Medicine, 5(4), 1-2.O'Keefee, J., & Jones, J.M. (1990). Reduce restrictions on minors' right to abortion. Issues in Science and Technology, 7(4), 74-80. Parental involvement in minor abortions. (2014, April 1). State policies in brief. Retrieved April 5, 2014, from http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibPence, M. (n.d.). Parental consent to minor abortion. Divine Carolina. Retrieved April 4, 2014, from http://www.divinecaroline.com/life-etc/parental-consent-abortion-minors