Our History
Jane’s Due Process was founded in 2001 when the state of Texas passed its first parental involvement law regarding abortion. The new law required that parents of a minor be notified if a young person sought abortion care. A few years earlier, in 1998, Texas had also passed its first parental consent law for contraception, requiring teens to have a parent’s written permission to obtain prescriptive birth control methods like the birth control pill or an IUD.
Since JDP’s founding, Texas’s parental involvement laws have become steadily more restrictive. In 2005 the Texas legislature passed a parental consent law for abortion, requiring teens to get a parent’s written permission before obtaining an abortion. And most recently, in 2015, the Texas legislature added several new requirements to the bypass process, such as deeming a bypass ‘denied’ if a judge fails to rule on it (previously a judge failing to rule meant the bypass was granted) and forcing minors to file for a bypass in their home counties, which often threatens the confidentiality of the entire process in small towns where teens are easily recognized or family members and friends work at the courthouse.
Through each of these changes, Jane’s Due Process has been there to help youth navigate the legal landscape. The heart of our work is our network of lawyers around the state who are trained and able to take judicial bypass cases on behalf of the minors who call us seeking abortion access pro bono. We’re the first organization in the nation to do judicial bypass work for youth, and we remain the only organization in the nation completely dedicated to this type of support. That’s why we provide training, and support to other groups and individuals in other states that have parental involvement laws.
In 2017 we began adding more programming to ensure that we’re truly supporting the youth who come to us for help navigating access to their reproductive rights. We added our text line to provide anonymous birth control access support, started our youth leadership program to provide support for former clients to become leaders in the reproductive rights and justice movements, and co-hosted a national convening of advocates around the United States doing judicial bypass work in their communities.