TAMPA, Fla. — A 17-year-old in Florida will be able to get an abortion without parental consent.
A judge granted the teen a judicial bypass from a state law that requires people under 18 years of age to have parental consent before discussing abortion procedures with a doctor.
The teen was previously denied the request.
The high school junior filed the motion in Tampa.
She testified that she has worked three jobs in the past year, and at one point, worked two jobs at once.
The teen has money saved but said she is “not yet financially stable” to keep a child.
In court documents, she continued to say that she “lives with her father who does not believe in abortion except in cases of rape.”
She believes her parents would urge her to keep the baby if they found out she wanted an abortion, the teen said.
Her first petition was denied because the court said her intelligence was “less than average” after they found her grade point average was a 2.0.
But her lawyer, Rinky Parwani, argued that a 2.0 was average.
The judge decided that the teen possessed “an ability to assess the consequences” and granted a judicial bypass on that basis.
38 states require some level of parental involvement in a minor’s decision to have an abortion, according to The Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that advocates for sexual and reproductive health and rights.
That may involve consent, while some states only require notification.
Some states, including Hawaii, Nevada and New York, do not require parental consent for minors seeking an abortion.
