Abortion

Restriction on Minors’ Abortion Access Introduced in Connecticut

Two Connecticut state legislators this month introduced identical bills that would require physicians to notify parents or legal guardians 48 hours in advance of giving a minor child an abortion.

Two Connecticut state legislators this month introduced identical bills that would require physicians to notify parents or legal guardians 48 hours in advance of giving a minor child an abortion. Shutterstock

Two Connecticut state legislators this month introduced identical bills that would require physicians to notify parents or legal guardians 48 hours in advance of giving a minor child an abortion.

The bills, HB 5220 and HB 5216, introduced in early January by Reps. Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott) and Al Adinolfi (R-Cheshire), respectively, would prohibit abortions performed on minors unless the parents have been told beforehand.

If either of the bills passes and is signed into law, it would represent the first time the state has on the books a parental involvement law. Similar legislation also has been introduced this year in Maine.

Acknowledging that many young people will be deterred from seeking needed services if they first must tell an adult, most states allow people under the age of 18 to consent to a range of reproductive-related services, including contraception, STI screening and treatment, prenatal care, and adoption.

Abortion, however, is treated differently in most states. Only two states and the District of Columbia have laws that explicitly allow minors to consent to abortions services, while 13 states require parental notification prior to an abortion, 21 states require that at least one parent consents to a minor’s abortion, and five states have both notification and consent laws on the books.

Most states with parental involvement laws include a “judicial bypass,” allowing minors, who either don’t want to tell their parents or whose parents have refused to consent, to petition a judge for a waiver.

Though judicial bypass provisions are ostensibly meant to give minors a way around notifying their parents, as Rewire has reported, in fact the laws subject young people to a legal catch-22:

The whole point of judicial bypass is to allow a minor to participate in confidential proceedings where a judge will ask her a bunch of questions to determine whether she’s mature enough to decide to get an abortion on her own. If the court determines that, no, this child is not mature enough to decide to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, then it will decide that the child is, apparently, mature enough to be a parent.

In Alabama, the court can appoint a lawyer for the fetus, and can call witnesses, including sexual partners and parents, to testify against the pregnant minor.