{"id":209665,"date":"2019-08-31T12:30:20","date_gmt":"2019-08-31T17:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=209665"},"modified":"2019-08-30T23:37:21","modified_gmt":"2019-08-31T04:37:21","slug":"indiana-appeals-parents-minor-teens-abortions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/indiana-appeals-parents-minor-teens-abortions\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana appeals court: Parents don’t need to know about minor teens’ abortions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An appeals court in Indiana on Tuesday upheld<\/a> the decision of a lower court to block a portion of a 2017 state law aimed at ensuring parents are informed when underage daughters undergo abortions. The ruling was issued in a 2-1 vote.<\/p>\n

Under Indiana law, teens must get parental consent when undergoing abortions, however, teens can petition a judge for a “judicial bypass.” What this means is a judge can rule that a teen is mature enough to make the decision to abort. In 2017, Governor Eric Holcomb signed into law Senate Enrolled Act 404, which says that parents are still to be notified if the judge approves a teenage girl’s petition.<\/p>\n

Attorney General Curtis Hill denounced<\/a> the initial ruling in 2018 to block the parental notification part of the law, calling it “an attempt to give courts rather than parents the legal guardianship of children.”<\/p>\n

As expected, Planned Parenthood celebrated the ruling. Betty Cockrum, president of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, said in 2018 <\/a>of the first ruling that it was a win for “young women here in Indiana who are already dealing with an incredibly difficult situation.”<\/p>\n

But the fact that these girls are in “an incredibly difficult situation” is exactly why<\/em> their parents or guardians should be made aware of the abortion. Abortion is a dangerous procedure with major risks increasing as the pregnancy advances. If a girl undergoes an abortion and experiences complications at home, her parents would not be aware of why their daughter is suffering and would not be able to communicate the necessary information to paramedics or ER doctors. In addition, if a girl is being abused and her abuser takes her for an abortion, her parents would be unable to help her escape the abuse.<\/p>\n

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