A Florida appeals court upheld a lower judge's ruling that a 16-year-old girl cannot get an abortion in the state because of a law that requires parental consent.
Activists are protesting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
A three-judge panel at the First District Court of Appeals in Florida found in favor of the circuit court judge in Escambia County who ruled that the woman had not established by clear and convincing evidence that she was mature enough to make a decision about her unborn child.
Minors can get court permission to get an abortion if they can't get their parent or guardian's consent.
Florida law only allows the judges to overturn the lower court's ruling if there is abuse or discretion, and the circuit judge's ruling was neither unclear nor lacking.
The pregnant woman told the court that she wasn't ready to have a baby, she didn't have a job, and the father couldn't help her.
While the trial court judge rejected the request, she left the possibility that the woman may be able to adequately articulate her request at a later date.
The other two judges overruled him and he argued that the appeals court should have allowed the case to go back to the lower court.
The woman in the case was denied an abortion even though she stated her legal guardian was okay with what she wanted to do. If the guardian had said that in a written waiver, the abortion would have been possible. It's not clear why she sought the court's permission instead of her guardian's, and if she could still have an abortion.
The number 36. According to the Guttmacher Institute, there are at least 35 states with parental consent laws in place for abortions. Some of the laws are nullified because of the Supreme Court's decision.
The state policy of forcing a woman to give birth iscruel for the sake of being cruel.
In January, there was a high-profile instance of a Florida minor seeking an abortion. A lower judge denied the minor's request because she wasn't mature enough to make the decision. The waiver for an abortion was granted by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Florida is one of the few states in the Southeast that still allows abortion, though the state now prohibits the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and has become a major access point for the procedure as neighboring states have banned it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans under the age of 19 make up 8.9% of all abortion patients in 2019. If you're traveling out of state to get an abortion, you might have to avoid states where the procedure is legal but requires parental consent, for example. Teenagers who are denied abortions in their own states face additional logistical barriers when traveling out of state for an abortion because of a lack of income or transportation.
The appeals court blocked the abortion.
Young people's access to abortion is more complex than ever.
Getting abortions was difficult for adolescents. The Supreme Court made it more difficult.
It's difficult to get a court-approved abortion. One teen had a good grade point average. The Washington Post has an article about it.
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