Courts Deny Abortion to Nebraska Teenager in Foster Care, On Grounds She is Too Immature

ABC News: Court Says Nebraska Teenager Too Immature to Decide on Abortion, by Sidney Lupkin:

A Nebraska teenager in foster care was denied access to an abortion, because the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled she wasn't mature enough to make that decision on her own, according to a court opinion published this month. . . .

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Under the governing Supreme Court case law, courts are supposed to grant a teenager permission for an abortion if (1) she is sufficiently mature to make the decision on her own or (2) the abortion would be in her best interests (or, under some states' laws, if telling her parents would not be in her best interests).  Here, the biological parents' rights were reportedly terminated based on their abuse and neglect.  One would think that would satisfy the second part of the test, but the court apparently found that inquiry to be inapplicable, at least as applied to the teenager's biological parents, given that their rights were terminated.  There is a sad irony in the courts' further determination that "the young woman wasn't mature enough to make the abortion decision on her own because she was financially dependent on her foster parents and had never lived on her own or mentioned any work experience."  It seems those were the very factors that led her to make the mature decision that parenthood was not a realistic option.

-CEB