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Judges Decide If Teens May Abort

Jul. 21- When the red drapes cover the windows of the locked Franklin County courtroom, it’s a sure sign a pregnant teen is inside seeking permission for an abortion.

Her parents might never know.

Since 1986, judges in Franklin County Domestic Relations Court have been permitted to bypass parental consent for an abortion for a girl younger than 18. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law in 1994. In effect, Franklin County judges have been allowed to play parent with the stroke of a pen.

A court ruling in favor of the teen grants her the right to obtain an abortion in Franklin County without her parents being contacted. Each girl must first be counseled by a doctor about the procedure and be told about alternatives, such as keeping the child and adoption.

The bypass hearing is “not something a lot of people know about, I admit,” Judge Dana Suzanne Preisse said.

“The average age is 16 or 17, and some are weeks from their 18th birthday. They have to prove to the court they are emotionally mature and intelligent enough to make this decision on their own.”

After 18, parental consent is not needed for an abortion.

Judge Kim Browne said she spends 20 minutes with each teen and her attorney.

“I don’t think I’m playing God at all,” said Browne, who has never denied a request. “That is their choice. That’s the decision they are going to have to live with.

“Many of them will tell me at least one of their parents knows they are pregnant. We get a lot of out-of-town girls who don’t want to go to a judge in their community.”

A handful of attorneys are on the appointment list, and most of the girls are referred to them by abortion-rights groups and Planned Parenthood clinics, or they bring a family lawyer, both judges said.

Taxpayers pay for the legal advice to troubled teens. There are no filing fees for a bypass hearing.

Judges don’t ask for the teens’ names or schools, or who the father is. Sometimes, a clean driving record and good grades are enough to convince a judge of “sufficient maturity,” the key phrase in the Ohio Revised Code. Applicants don’t have to live in Franklin County if the procedure will be done here.

To maintain privacy, Browne uses red drapes and a sign that reads, “Closed Hearing.” Other judges station their bailiffs at the doors.

The “Jane Doe” requests, as they are known, are kept on a steno pad in a court clerk’s drawer.

Last year, 49 bypass hearings were held in Franklin County, compared with 41 in 2006, 58 in 2005 and 63 in 2004. So far this year, judges have received 22 requests.

Franklin County reported 6,778 abortions in 2006, according to statistics from the Ohio Department of Health. Of those, 465 were for girls 18 and younger.

There were 32,936 induced abortions in the state in 2006, the last year for which complete statistics are available. Nearly 5,900 - about 18 percent - of the abortions that year involved girls younger than 19.

The court doesn’t keep transcripts of the hearings or statistics on how many requests are granted, but both Preisse and Browne said most are. Denials are automatically sent to the Franklin County Court of Appeals.

Some former judges, including Carole Squire and the late George W. Twyford, usually denied the requests on moral grounds, court officials said.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for a family court judge to flagrantly disregard the parents’ authority,” Squire, a Domestic Relations judge from 2000 to 2006, said last week.

“I don’t believe (judges) are applying the law correctly. Good grades in school is not dispositive of being sufficiently mature.”

As her conservative stance became known, fewer bypass hearings came her way, she said.

Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, said the law is necessary to protect girls from potential abuse at home.

“You can’t legislate good relationships with parents. This law has provided a mechanism for them while protecting their privacy,” Copeland said. “We’re not in favor of parental-consent laws in general.”

Preisse has denied only one request, she said.

“I feel I’m elected by the people to follow the statute,” even if it goes against her own moral standards.

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