A Florida court ruling that a 16-year-old is not “mature enough” to have an abortion has sparked outrage.
“This is a dangerous and horrible example of Florida’s war on women,” tweeted Democratic Representative Lois Frankel this week. “If a young woman is too immature to decide to have an abortion, how can she have a baby?”
Representative Pramila Jayapal called the decision by a Florida appeals court “disgusting”. She was “angry” that a teenage girl was being forced to give birth.
16 years old: Not ready for baby
An appeals court denied the 16-year-old the right to an abortion on Monday and upheld a lower court ruling. The girl, who is 10 weeks pregnant, told the court she was “not ready to have a baby”. She still goes to school, doesn’t have a job, and the child’s father can’t help her.
However, the lower court ruled that the girl had not “proved clearly and convincingly that she is mature enough to decide whether to terminate the pregnancy”. The Court of Appeal upheld this decision.
Restricted access to abortions
In Florida, minors need parental consent to have an abortion. However, the young man in this case has no parents. She lives with a relative and has a state-appointed guardian. The girl therefore asked the court for permission to have an abortion.
The right to abortion is one of the most controversial sociopolitical issues in the United States. The country’s Supreme Court in June overturned a landmark nearly 50-year-old ruling that upheld the national right to abortion. As a result, several conservative-ruled states began to drastically restrict access to abortion.