Women Under 18 Face Rocky Road to Court-Approved Abortions

Judicial bypass, a legal proceeding that enables minors to obtain waivers that allow them to end their pregnancies without notifying their parents, requires women to show a judge that they are mature enough to make the decision without their parents or that it isn’t in the teen’s best interest to inform them. But success depends largely on the judge’s discretion and disposition, and it varies from state to state reports the Washington Post.

Florida, for example, allows judges to consider factors such as an applicant’s age; their “overall intelligence”; emotional development and stability; credibility as a witness; and the ability to understand and explain the medical risks of terminating their pregnancy. Many of the applicants who seek help are 17, often just months away from being legally able to make the decision to end their pregnancies on their own. It is not unusual for judges to deny petitions for reasons that do not appear related to the teen’s maturity or understanding of the abortion procedure. If the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade is gutted or overturned this year, a minor’s right to a judicial bypass may no longer be protected.