A 16-year-old teenage girl who is 10-weeks pregnant, has been determined by a Florida judge to not be mature enough to make a decision about having an abortion.
In Florida, minors have to get their parents’ permission, but the girl is an orphan and previously asked a lower court to allow her to decide for herself. The lower court said she did not demonstrate that she was mature enough to make the decision, and a Florida appeals court upheld that ruling on Monday.
The teen told the court that she was not ready to have a child because she was jobless, studying to obtain her GED, and living with a relative because she is “parentless.” She said the father was not available to help her.
But Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Frydrychowicz of the first ruling was not convinced, and said the girl did not show the court, “by clear and convincing evidence that she was sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy,” court documents say, and Florida’s First District Court of Appeals upheld that decision.
Since parental approval is required in Florida, (thanks to a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2004, and SB 404, legislation which requires written consent from a minor’s parent or legal guardian for an abortion) and the young lady has no parents, her legal guardian is able to stand in and approve her request for an abortion, so it is unclear why the teen did not go that route, since she apparently told the court her legal guardian was “fine” with her having an abortion.
It is noted that she declined legal representation, which was offered to her for no charge, which might have made the court appearance unnecessary.
In any case, with her guardian’s approval, she can still get an abortion, if she does it before the 15-week point – the legal limit for an abortion, at the present time, in Florida. All her guardian has to do is fill out a form.
Was this a case of an unexperienced teenager seeking help and not being led in the direction where she may have obtained it? Is she too immature to make the decision, but mature enough to raise a child? The court did not address any of the issues regarding her guardian or the consequences of her carrying to full term, according to court records.
“Thanks to Ron DeSantis, Florida is now forcing a teenager to give birth against her will,” Florida Democratic Party spokesman Travis Reuther said in a statement. “That is an appalling and dangerous overreach by the Governor, who claims to represent the ‘free state of Florida,’ but wants to make women’s healthcare decisions for them.”
