THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 9, 1997 TAG: 9702090048
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORRAINE EATON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 174 lines
She was 17. Her period was way too late. She called the abortion clinic, on the sly, scared.
She thought about telling her mother. But the Virginia Beach teen, with plans for college and a career, knew what her mother would think. Her mother calls a cousin who had an abortion ``the little tramp.''
She couldn't face her mother. But she says she also wouldn't be able to face a judge to get permission to have an abortion. That is an option that teen-age girls would have under ``parental notification'' bills being considered this week in the Virginia House and Senate.
After 18 years of debate, a Virginia bill could become law this year that requires a parent's notification before a minor gets an abortion. But even if that happens, teen-age girls could get authorization for an abortion without their parents' knowing by taking their case to a judge.
U.S. Supreme Court decisions have mandated that parental notification laws must contain provisions for bypassing parents. It's a provision that satisfies neither abortion supporters nor opponents.
Most girls tell their parents, abortion providers say. But those who don't often have good reasons for not doing so, and judicial bypass does little to soften the intimidation factor that a parental notification law brings.
Abortion foes call the bypass clause a ``rubber stamp'' because few petitions are denied.
In other states where parents are by law involved in their daughters' decisions on abortion, these judicial authorization clauses have sparked lawsuits, raised the ire of judges and piqued the concern of clinic workers who believe teen-agers are unaware of their rights.
Pregnant girls who don't want to tell their parents and instead want permission from a judge would likely follow a process similar to what is in place in North Carolina and 25 other states with parental involvement laws.
North Carolina's law, which went into effect in October 1995, calls for parental consent, not just notification.
A teen-ager seeking judicial waiver must file a request in a district court, not necessarily in the district where she lives. The court clerk gives the girl instructions that explain the judicial waiver process and her rights to appeal. North Carolina's law guarantees a hearing with a judge within seven days of the request. In Virginia, the hearing would take place within four days. There are no court costs.
After meeting with a court-appointed attorney and/or guardian, a hearing is usually held in a private office. Clerks in North Carolina do not take notes, and petitions are kept under lock and key.
``We're not even allowed to put them into the computer,'' said a clerk in one of North Carolina's most populated counties. ``Privacy at all costs.''
The issue of abortion and judicial bypass is so sensitive in North Carolina that several lawyers who volunteer to represent girls in these hearings declined to talk to a reporter. One clerk who agreed to be interviewed was worried that she might be reprimanded if her name was used.
The clerk, who has been present at many hearings, said that judges ask about school involvement, grades, goals, whether the minor has a job and why she feels she cannot talk to her parents. They also ask if she understands the risks of the procedure and try to find out why the minor feels that she cannot raise a child.
``They try to be as compassionate as they can,'' the clerk said.
In North Carolina and elsewhere, judicial waiver has raised problems.
Soon after a Massachusetts consent law went into effect in 1981, eight of 62 superior court judges refused to hear judicial waiver cases on grounds that they were morally opposed to abortion, said Patricia Donovan, a senior law and policy analyst with The Alan Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization that researches reproductive health issues. And lawyers reported that a few judges ignored guidelines and asked inappropriate questions, such as how a teen-ager felt about having a ``dead child.''
In North Carolina, the ACLU has charged that the state law is unconstitutional because it does not provide for a swift appeal for minors who are denied a judicial waiver. Deborah Ross, executive and legal director of the ACLU of North Carolina, said one case took more than a week for a minor to secure a court date for her first hearing.
The ACLU suit also charges that confidentiality is not guaranteed; in one of the first bypass hearings the courtroom doors remained open. And because North Carolina requires that cases of rape or incest be referred to Social Services, many girls are afraid to go to court.
The ACLU case will be heard on appeal in federal court in Richmond in early April.
Things have since improved in Massachusetts and other states with similar problems, Donovan said. ``Most judges handle these things pretty matter-of-factly and aren't looking to make it any more painful than it already is.''
Tough judges or not, ``the vast majority of teen-agers that go that route (judicial waiver) get authorization,'' Donovan said. ``It is really the rare case that does not.''
Of more than 100 cases in North Carolina, only three have been denied, according to the North Carolina ACLU.
Still, clinic workers in North Carolina worry that girls do not understand the judicial bypass clause or its guarantee of confidentiality. Girls, they said, believe their parents will be told.
``We've not been getting calls from minors; I suspect that they are even afraid to call Planned Parenthood,'' said Janet Colm, president of Planned Parenthood for Orange and Durham counties. ``They don't understand the nuances of the law.''
In Virginia in 1995, 2,251 girls ages 10 to 17 had abortions.
Joi Chisholm, 17, a senior at I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth, figures six or seven girls she knew in ninth and 10th grade had abortions.
``Only one girl said her mother didn't know,'' Joi said.
Joi's reality is mirrored by statistics. A national survey by the Guttmacher Institute found that about 61 percent of minors who have abortions tell at least one parent, usually the mother. And most mothers don't tell the girl's father.
When a girl won't tell her parents, clinic workers and judges always ask for a reason.
For some teen-agers, it's a question of physical harm or getting kicked out of the house. Others talk about the fear that the pregnancy would disappoint their parents and destroy their relationship.
The 17-year-old from Virginia Beach described a month of ``pure hell'' after realizing last August that she might be pregnant.
Finally, after her boyfriend borrowed $10 for a drugstore pregnancy test, she learned she wasn't pregnant after all.
Still, during that time, the girl never considered telling her mother, even though she describes her family as ``very close,'' one that sits down to eat together every night.
``I was, like, so scared,'' she said. ``I kept thinking I'm so young, my boyfriend is young. I didn't want to be in that percentage, just another pregnant girl in high school in 1997.'' ILLUSTRATION: SIDEBAR
Parental notification bills in the House and Senate differ on one
point: The Senate wants minors' parents or guardians notified while
the House would allow notification of a sibling over 21 or a
grandparent.
Both bills apply to unemancipated minors, such as those who are
not married or are not active-duty military.
Under both bills, there are three ways an unemancipated minor in
Virginia could get an abortion - parental notification, judicial
authorization or with an exception.
Parental notification
There are four ways that notification can be established under
both bills:
The parent can accompany the child to the doctor.
The minor can give the doctor a written statement signed by a
parent or guardian and witnessed by ``a competent adult'' who is
also aware of the minor's intention to have an abortion.
The physician can notify a parent or guardian either in person or
by phone at least 24 hours in advance of the procedure.
If a parent cannot be contacted, the doctor can deliver the
notice via certified mail with return receipt to the parent or
guardian at least 72 hours prior to the procedure.
Judicial authorization
If a minor does not want to notify her parents, she can go
through the courts for what is called ``judicial authorization.''
First, she would file a petition with the court and these cases
must be heard within four days.
If the judge finds the minor to be ``mature and capable of giving
informed consent,'' he or she can authorize the abortion.
If the judge believes the minor is ``not mature,'' a hearing can
be ordered to determine whether having the abortion without parental
notice would be in the child's best interest.
If the judge refuses authorization, the minor can appeal the
decision. The courts have five days to hear and decide on the
appeal.
Throughout the proceedings, the minor can represent herself or
have a court-appointed attorney. She will not pay filing fees. All
hearings are confidential.
If the courts do not act within the allotted time, the court must
immediately authorize the abortion without notifying parents or
guardians.
Exceptions
Neither parental notice nor judicial approval is required in
cases of abuse or neglect of the minor. Exceptions also are granted
if the abortion is medically necessary to avert the minor's death or
if there is not time to get judicial approval and delay would cause
``serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function
or substantial physical injury.''
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997 ABORTION PROPOSED BILL
PARENTAL NOTIFICATION