Access to contraception constitutes one of the few exceptions to parental medical decision-making for minors. Despite inconsistencies in state law across the United States, many minors are legally protected in confidentially accessing contraception under the public health exception to parental authority. However, this exception may undermine one of the goals it sets out to achieve—the best interest of the child—by preventing parents from exercising their responsibility to protect, provide for, and educate their children, who are not fully decisionally capable. While parental involvement in a process of shared decision-making is widely encouraged and believed to foster good outcomes, it is difficult for children to initiate these conversations. Enter the clinician, who has the knowledge and resources to bring more parents and children together into conversation about contraceptive use. If inquiring about parental capacity for involvement in these decisions becomes standard medical practice, adolescents will be equipped to practice sex safely, and parents will continue to be able to uphold their responsibilities to their children, facilitating the flourishing of the family as a whole.
Allison Bajada (2026) studied this question.