Nebraska Teen Denied Access To An Abortion

A Nebraska teen was denied access to an abortion after the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled she wasn’t mature enough to make that decision on her own.

According to ABC News, the 16-year-old girl was 10 weeks pregnant when she first approached a judge in May for documentation that would allow her to get an abortion without parental consent.

The report continued on to state that the court had terminated the girl’s biological parents’ parental rights earlier that month, citing abuse and neglect after her father broke her collarbone and shoulder blade in 2011, and because her mother had a drug problem.

According to a court opinion, the girl claimed that she wanted to have an abortion because she believed she was too young to be a mother, and was afraid she wouldn’t be able to be the mother she wished to be to the baby.

The court decided that the 16-year-old girl wasn’t mature enough to make the decision to have an abortion on her own because she was “financially dependent on her foster parents and had never lived on her own or mentioned any work experience.”

Think Progress reported that under the state’s current law, minors must obtain notarized legal consent from a parent of guardian before being allowed to have an abortion.

The report continues on to state the three exceptions to the law:

“A medical emergency, a situation in which there’s proven abuse or neglect in the home, or a situation in which the court agrees that there’s ‘clear and convincing evidence that the pregnant woman is both sufficiently mature and well-informed to decide whether to have an abortion.'”

The court decided 5-2 that the girl didn’t fit into any of the exceptions listed above.

What do you think about the case of the Nebraska teen who was denied access to an abortion?

[Image via Shutterstock/KAMONRAT]