Minors’ Access to Contraceptive Services

April 7, 2026

Nearly half of US states explicitly permit minors to access contraception without parental involvement, allowing minors to provide their own consent for this care. In several of these states, minors are allowed to provide consent to contraception only under certain circumstances, including: when there is a health risk to the minor; if the minor is or has ever been married; if the minor is already a parent; or if the minor is currently pregnant or has ever been pregnant. Some of these states also allow providers to notify minors’ parents that they have accessed contraception.

Other states do not have laws or policies that explicitly prohibit or allow minors to consent to contraception. In those states, minors’ access to contraceptive services may be governed by laws and policies that control minors’ access to health care generally. Minors in those states may be able to consent to health care services generally, including contraceptive services, based on an individual provider’s assessment of their maturity, or under specific circumstances, like marriage. Additionally, minors who are emancipated are able to consent to their own health care. General health care consent laws and policies are reflected in the table below only if the state lacks laws or policies specific to minors’ contraception access. Additionally, minors in most states can consent to care at clinics funded by Title X, regardless of parental consent.

Two states prohibit minors from accessing contraception without parental consent. One of those states, Texas, extends this prohibition to Title X clinics as well.

Highlights

23 states and the District of Columbia explicitly allow minors to consent to contraception.

16 states explicitly allow minors to consent to contraception under specific circumstances.

2 states prohibit minors from accessing contraception without parental consent.

Current Policy Status Table

Minors’ Access to Contraceptive Services
Jurisdiction	Explicitly allows minors to consent to contraception	Allows minors to consent to contraception under specified circumstances:					Prohibits minors from accessing contraception without parental consent
Jurisdiction	Explicitly allows minors to consent to contraception	Health risk	Married or ever married	Parent	Pregnant or ever pregnant	Other
Alabama	X
Alaska	X
Arizona*†	X		X			X (minor is homeless)
Arkansas	X
California	X
Colorado	X
Connecticut	X
Delaware						X (12 years or older)
District of Columbia	X
Florida		X	X	X	X
Georgia	X
Hawaii						X (14 years or older)
Idaho							X
Illinois ‡		X	X	X	X	X (with medical or other referral)
Indiana			X			X (16 years or older and within 60 days of giving birth; 14 or older and independent of parents; US military service member)
Iowa	X
Kansas						X (minor deemed mature)
Kentucky	X (provider may inform parents)
Louisiana			X (married minors who are 16 years or older are considered emancipated)
Maine	X
Maryland	X
Massachusetts	X
Michigan	X
Minnesota	X
Mississippi			X	X		X (with medical or other referral)
Missouri			X	X	X
Montana			X	X		X (high school graduate; self-supporting; pregnant; diagnosed with "reportable communicable disease")
Nebraska*			X
Nevada	X
New Hampshire*			X
New Jersey			X		X
New Mexico	X
New York	X
North Carolina	X
North Dakota*			X			X (homeless, unaccompanied minor)
Ohio ‡
Oklahoma*			X (provider may inform parents)	X (provider may inform parents)	X (provider may inform parents)	X (separated from parents; provider may inform parents)
Oregon	X
Pennsylvania	X
Rhode Island* ‡			X			X (16 years or older)
South Carolina	X (if, in the judgment of clinician, care is deemed necessary)
South Dakota*			X
Tennessee			X	X	X	X (with medical or other referral)
Texas							X
Utah §
Vermont ‡
Virginia	X
Washington ‡
West Virginia §
Wisconsin **
Wyoming ‡
Totals	24	2	16	7	6	12	2

Note: Table includes only those jurisdictions with policies relevant to this topic in effect.

*State law addresses minors’ consent to health care in general, not specific to contraception.

†In Arizona, there is no statute explicitly authorizing or prohibiting minors from consenting to contraception, although a 1977 Attorney General’s opinion stipulated that unemancipated minors can access contraception without parental consent. However, in 2010 the state legislature passed a “parental rights” law extending to health care, which has left the legal status of minors’ consent to contraception unresolved.

‡Illinois, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming do not have laws specific to minors’ consent to contraception. However, they have laws that establish the right to contraception, establish noninterference by the state in contraceptive access, or explicitly permit a state entity to provide contraceptive care to any person who may benefit from it. These laws do not mention age specifically, nor has there been any case law establishing a minors’ right to contraceptive services in these states.

§ In Utah, case law has held that a state policy that required parental notification or consent to obtain contraception at federally subsidized health care centers violated federal law and was unconstitutional. In West Virginia, case law has held that Title X clinics could not require parental notice or consent as a condition of family planning services. Otherwise, minors are only permitted to access contraception in instances where the state considers them able to provide consent for health care generally.

**In Wisconsin, there is no statute that explicitly authorizes minors’ access to contraception without parental notice or consent; however, the state's Medicaid program, BadgerCare+, provides contraceptive services to recipients who are under 18 without parental involvement

Suggested citation: Guttmacher Institute, Minors' access to contraceptive services, State Laws and Policies (as of April 2026), 2026, https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/minors-access-contraceptive-services.