Going Through the Courts

While the passage of Proposition 73 would make it harder for adolescent girls to secretly get abortions, it would not make the secret abortion impossible to attain. According to The Official Title and Summary of Proposition 73, if a girl receives a waiver approved by the California State Court, her parents would not have to be notified in order for her to get the abortion. The process of going to court is fairly simple and all an adolescent girl needs to do is show up to or call her local State Court and request to speak with a judge about getting the waiver.

However, do not be deceived by the apparent simplicity of this task. Getting a judge to grant a waiver would not be simple. In fact, just getting a judge to agree to hear the case could be near impossible. Within the last two weeks, judges in Tennessee, Alabama, and Pennsylvania have refused to hear cases involving parental notification of adolescent pregnancy abortion. These judges put their personal opinions ahead of their duty to serve the court system to make a statement, but they also caused many troubled girls to find themselves in even more trouble. The laws that were designed to protect these girls from dangerous abortions are instead hindering their legal right to an abortion.

Once an adolescent girl can convince a judge to hear her case, she must prove that she is “sufficiently mature and well-informed to decide whether to have an abortion or that notification would not be in [her] best interest,” according to the legislative analysis of this proposition. Doing so could prove very difficult for a young, scared girl.

Supporters of Proposition 73, like Yes on Proposition 73, argue that adolescent girls in this condition are too vulnerable to know what is best for them, while opponents of the proposition, like The Campaign for Teen Safety, argue that adolescent girls should not be forced to defend themselves in court and notifying parents should be a personal decision.