A pregnant and parentless 16-year-old girl has been deemed not "sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy," a Florida county has ruled.
According to court documents, the teen, who is referred to as Jane Doe 22-B, requested permission to seek an abortion without the consent of a parent or guardian.
She cited the fact that she was an unemployed student as a reason why she would be unable to carry a baby to full term. The judge, Jennifer J. Frydrychowicz, denied her request.
Following this, the teen then appealed the decision, but the judges maintained that she did not present "clear and convincing evidence that she was sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy."
To have a termination of pregnancy as a minor in Florida, a doctor must be provided with written consent from the minor's parent or guardian, or a waiver. The teenager stated that her guardian "was fine" with her having an abortion.
Per the court documents, the Florida teen is: "Almost seventeen years-old and parentless. She lives with a relative but has an appointed guardian. She is pursuing a GED with involvement in a program designed to assist young women who have experienced trauma in their lives by providing educational support and counseling.
"The minor experienced renewed trauma (the death of a friend) shortly before she decided to seek termination of her pregnancy," the document read.
In addition, the document states that the father of the teen's baby is "unable to assist her."
One of the Appellate judges, Scott Makar, stated in his judgment that this situation was a "close call," and that the minor "showed, at times, that she is stable and mature enough to make this decision."
He also acknowledged that the teen had educated herself on the medical options available to her, as well as their consequences, and that she "acknowledges she is not ready for the emotional, physical, or financial responsibility of raising a child."
Despite this, Makar still denied the Florida teen's request. He did, however, say that the teen could come back "at a later date, to adequately articulate her request, and the Court may re-evaluate its decision at that time."
Twitter has been in uproar, with one user tweeting: "So Florida courts say a teen is not mature enough to decide if she wants an abortion, but she's sufficiently mature to give birth and possibly raise a child? Florida never ceases to amaze me [sic]."
Currently, Florida abortion law has banned abortions after 15 weeks, and provides no exceptions for rape or incest. The teen, who was 10 weeks pregnant at the time of the court proceedings, would have a mere five weeks to apply to the court for another waiver.
In June, the Supreme Court of the USA overturned Roe v Wade, a landmark 1973 case that gave American women the constitutional right to have an abortion. Now, laws regulating the procedure are left up to individual states.
Southern states, such as Alabama and Louisiana, have banned abortion after 6 weeks - as a result, many women from these states must travel to neighboring states to receive safe abortions.
Unfortunately for the 16-year-old Florida teen, she is currently unable to access abortion in her home state and must continue her pregnancy.
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