Judicial By-pass Remedy Remains Key Right for Texas Minors

For Immediate Release
June 3, 2005

Texas legal rights organization says that the recent legislative session left intact a key provision for abused and abandoned minors who seek to end pregnancies, in spite of efforts to remove it.

Texas lawmakers passed legislation to prohibit doctors from performing abortions on pregnant minors without parental consent. Legislators left in place, however, a provision that allows a court order instead of parental consent for girls in certain circumstances. The process is commonly referred to as judicial by-pass.

Jane's Due Process, an Austin-based organization that protects and defends legal rights of pregnant minors in Texas , said that the judicial by-pass mechanism was created in 1999 when the Texas Parental Notification Law was originally enacted. The judicial by-pass allows girls who are abused, abandoned or in circumstances where parental involvement is not in their best interest, to proceed with their decision to terminate the pregnancy.

A It was very disappointing to see lawmakers spend so much energy trying to make the judicial by-pass process virtually impossible to obtain for girls who are in abusive situations or whose parents long ago abandoned them,” said Jane = s Due Process Executive Director Shelia Cheaney. “Fortunately, those attempts failed and the process remains fair and available to girls around the state who are least equipped to become parents because of abuse and abandonment.”

Governor Perry has drawn criticism for his plan to sign the parental notification bill into law at a Fort Worth church this Sunday.

Jane's Due Process is a Texas non-profit corporation. Its mission is to ensure that each pregnant minor in the State of Texas who seeks legal relief in making a reproductive choice has fair and equal access to the court system, regardless of whether she chooses to continue or end her pregnancy.

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