Some states require a waiting period – a delay of hours or days – before a pregnant person can have an abortion in that state.
**California does not require you to go through a waiting period before getting an abortion.**
**Parental involvement is not required in California.** If you're younger than 18, you can consent to an abortion and do not have to notify your parents.
Abortion in California is legal until "viability." Viability is the stage of pregnancy when a fetus has developed enough that it is able to survive outside the uterus with medical help. When it happens depends on how the fetus is developing and can be different for every pregnancy. A health care provider can determine whether a pregnancy has reached viability.
Abortion providers vary in how many weeks into pregnancy they provide services. Check pregnancy stage limits with each abortion provider.
**Exceptions that may allow you to get an abortion in California after viability (the stage of pregnancy when a fetus has developed enough that it is able to survive outside the uterus with medical help)**
* To save the pregnant person's life
* To preserve the pregnant person's general health (can include mental health)
