A 16-year-old girl from the state of Florida was denied an abortion on the grounds that she was not mature enough to undergo the process. The ruling that unauthorized the abortion for the parentless 16-year-old teen has garnered widespread speculation.
The Escambia County Judge’s ruling was upheld by the First District Court Of Appeal. The verdict holds that the court cannot allow the 16-year-old teen to undergo the process of abortion without the parent’s or guardian’s consent. The teen being parentless has posed a major inconvenience in this case.
For the state of Florida receiving a parent’s or guardian’s consent for a minor to undergo abortion has always been the law. However, in the year 2020, Governor DeSantis mandated parental approval to be notarized for cases where teens are to be subject to abortion.
There is, however, a provision by law that allows for a Judge to waive off the requisite for parental consent is also there. The teen had applied for the same (also known as Judicial Bypass) when she was presumably 10 weeks into her pregnancy.
A new law that is scheduled to be signed by the Governor is set to ban abortion when it’s been 15 months into the pregnancy.
The ruling was delivered by a panel of three judges. It stated that the teen was not mature enough to arrive at a decision to terminate the pregnancy.
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