FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 12, 2015
For media interviews, contact:=
Tina Hester, (512) 450-4899
Susan Hays, (214) 557-4819
Governor Abbott Signs Onerous Judicial Bypass Bill Targeting
Abused and Neglected Teens; Jane’s Due Process Considers Legal Action
Today Governor Greg Abbott signed into law House Bill 3994, an omnibus bill that would dismantle current judicial bypass law and place dozens of new restrictions on pregnant teenagers seeking court access for legal permission to consent to an abortion.
“This legislation throws out a constitutional law that protected abused teens and replaced it with an unconstitutional one that obstructs teens who are seeking help,” said Susan Hays, Jane’s Due Process legal director. “If abused teens cannot get help, more harm will come to them.”
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the judicial bypass process be anonymous, expeditious, and an effective opportunity for an abortion to be obtained. Pregnant minors may apply for a judicial bypass as an alternative to involving a parent or legal guardian in her decision to have an abortion. Many of these teens turn to the courts because their parents have died, abandoned them, been deported, or are incarcerated or drug-addicted.+
HB 3994 contains unconstitutional modifications to the judicial bypass for abortion procedure compromising anonymity, impeding expeditiousness, and creating a new procedure that will function as an impermissible arbitrary veto over a minor’s decision to have an abortion.
For example, the new law repeals enforcement of the deadline for a judge to rule on a bypass application, in effect allowing a judge to stall a minor out until she can no longer obtain a legal abortion. “The judicial bypass is in place to protect vulnerable pregnant teens who cannot safely turn to a parent or cannot find a parent,” says Tina Hester, executive director of Jane’s Due Process. When a minor is not even given the chance to explain her situation to a judge, what is she supposed to do?”
HB 3994 requires minors to file in their home county if its population is more than 10,000 (which includes 169 counties, including almost every county in East Texas). But a recent survey by Jane’s Due Process found that 81% of the counties contacted did not have immediate knowledge of the judicial bypass process and 37% of the counties denied entirely their office’s involvement with the filings. In counties of less than 50,000, that refusal rate was 58%. “When courthouse doors are slammed these girls’ faces, Jane’s Due Process will be there to help,” Hester added.
Jane’s Due Process, is a non-profit organization that provides free legal representation for pregnant teens in Texas, including ensuring them legal representation in bypass cases.
