Was She Ready to Be a Mother? A Judge Got to Decide.

[Nevilledog]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/29/magazine/teen-pregnancy-abortion-judge.html

No paywall
https://archive.ph/z45cU

On a hot Texas morning in 2020, Giselle, who goes by G, slipped her arms into a borrowed blazer, flipped up the nose ring in her septum so it couldn’t be seen and walked into the Coryell County Courthouse. It was the first time she had ever been to court. She was 17, 11 weeks pregnant and already beginning to show. She was going to ask a judge for authorization to seek an abortion. Her lawyer had explained that she needed to prove that she was mature enough to make this decision. G squeezed her lips around her braces, reminding herself not to smile. She didn’t want the judge to see her as a child.

Because G was a minor, her access to an abortion was governed by the state’s “parental involvement” law. She could have either notified her mother or father and gotten consent, or she could have filed a petition in her home county, asking for what’s known as a judicial-bypass hearing. She had chosen to petition. In the carpeted courtroom, G explained that she didn’t know her father, who was investigated by Child Protective Services after being accused of molesting her when she was a toddler. Though the case was inconclusive and he denies abusing her, he eventually gave up his parental rights. G didn’t trust her mother, whom she viewed as unreliable and volatile. They had bounced among houses and boyfriends for stretches of G’s life. A year before, G packed up her things and left.

When she discovered she was pregnant, she traveled to an abortion clinic in Austin, about 60 miles south of where she lived in Copperas Cove, a city of 37,000 where nearly everyone works on Fort Hood, the nearby military base. The clinic referred her to Jane’s Due Process, an organization that helps minors navigate judicial bypass. Ten days later, its staff found G a trained attorney. It took G a week to schedule a ride to meet with the lawyer, who asked about her grades, extracurricular activities, babysitting experience and which birth-control method she would use in the future. Then, before her court date was scheduled, the District Court judge assigned to the case recused himself. Although he didn’t say why, many judges choose not to take a case in which they might have to approve an abortion. The clerk needed to book a visiting judge. Altogether, G had spent four weeks trying to get a hearing. And now, on June 18, 2020, four months shy of her 18th birthday, G knew that her future was at this judge’s discretion.

“Have you had to deal with your mom dealing with your braces?” her lawyer asked, hoping to show the judge that G couldn’t depend on her mother. Since she left home, G explained, her mother had been withholding payment on her braces, telling the orthodontist that G needed to cover the cost.

*snip*

[Ilsa]

1. Geez. Is she too immature to make a decision, but not too immature

to take care of herself and the pregnancy, learn about childbirth, and raise a baby? Or understand the legal and emotional details of placing a baby for adoption?

It's crazy. If she's mature enough to accept that she's pregnant, doesn't want to be, and find a clinic for an abortion, then she's old enough to make and own her choice.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. This country is so fucking cruel. I encourage everyone to read the entire article. K&R.

It's about so much more than "not mature enough to get an abortion but mature enough to parent????"

[Solly Mack]

5. Much more, I agree.

[drmeow]

3. I want to reframe the maturity issue

What it comes down to is "are they mature enough to not need to learn the consequences of their actions." See - part of what growing up is about is learning that behavior has consequences. It is all part and parcel of an authoritarian model - its about obedience and punishment. Denying a teenage girl an abortion is kinda like a legal way to beat (abuse) her. The law now says that it is illegal to administer corporal punishment to children so they are doing to deny her an abortion to punish her. She is not mature enough is the same as saying she is a child - and they feel like they have both a right and obligation to punish children however they want. "Spare the childbirth, spoil the child."

Dear F**KING Zeus I despise these people with every fiber of my being. I don't care how "nice" they are on the surface. Cruelty is a core and fundamental part of their identity and I am filled with contempt and hatred for them.

[Solly Mack]

4. K&R

Excellent article. The gist of the matter is buried at the end though.

[Lonestarblue]

6. The fact that the judge insisted she go to a Christian crisis pregnancy center meant that he

had no intention of treating her fairly. These centers can do. Sonogram, but they are not staffed by medical personnel. They are staffed by religious zealots who lie to women about abortion. G should have been able to go to a real medical clinic for an ultrasound and actual information about her complicated pregnancy (twins) and her abortion options. Deliberate delays by the judge and refusal to approve an abortion completely limited her future.

The religious zealots refuse to recognize that abortion is an economic issue as well as a personal choice. Without help from friends, G could not have worked enough low-wage jobs to support two children. Forcing her to have children she did not want also limited her economic options. Too often, women end up in utter poverty or in abusive relationships just to have some help.