Judges can override parental-notification law, but not many teens try Groups backing the rule fear that the requests are being rubber-stamped, but jurists dispute that.
The Denver Post August 15, 2004 Sunday FINAL EDITION
BYLINE: Daniel Nguyen Denver Post Staff Writer
SECTION: DENVER & THE WEST; Pg. C-02
LENGTH: 525 words
In the nine months since a new state law compelled Colorado doctors to notify a minor's parents before performing an abortion, only a few dozen pregnant girls have asked for a judge's permission to bypass the requirement.
So far, it appears, no one has been turned down.
No official numbers are kept by the state. But Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains has connected 66 girls to a network of lawyers who volunteer their time to handle judicial-bypass cases, spokeswoman Kate Horle said.
Not all of the girls have decided to go through with the process. For those who have, no judge has denied a bypass request, to Horle's knowledge. Kevin Paul, who as Planned Parenthood's legal counsel helped establish the network, said he is unaware of any denials.
The approval rate raises suspicion among anti-abortion activists. Mary Spaulding Balch, who monitors state legislation for the National Right to Life Committee, said it suggests that judicial bypasses amount to "little more than a rubber stamp."
Horle disputes that notion.
"I find it stunning that anyone would suggest this process is a rubber stamp," she said. "You're asking a young woman to make a tremendously difficult decision to go before a judge to defend that decision by herself. There's nothing that's remotely repetitive or ordinary about that."
The numbers cited by Planned Parenthood concern state Rep. Ted Harvey, a Highlands Ranch Republican who sponsored the parental-notification bill in 2003. He said the secrecy surrounding judicial bypasses - there are no open records describing the cases, how they were resolved or even how many occurred - makes it difficult to determine whether the law is working as intended.
"Perhaps there needs to be more oversight on behalf of the legislature to determine if there are legitimate cases where parents need to be denied their rights in knowing about their child's decision," Harvey said.
An informal survey, along with Planned Parenthood's numbers, suggests such cases are rare.
Most officials of the state's smaller judicial districts had so few of the cases that they could say with certainty the exact number. Larger districts, such as El Paso County, used words like "a few" or "a handful" to describe their count of requests. Judge Karen Ashby, the presiding Denver juvenile court judge, said she has heard about 15 cases.
How the cases are handled differs from judge to judge. Summit County District Judge David Lass said he held his one case in a smaller hearing room to help ensure privacy and have it seem less intimidating. Denver Juvenile Court Judge Orrelle Weeks said she has kept her hearings in the courtroom to emphasize the seriousness of the decisions.
The judges say the bypass hearing is far from a rubber-stamp procedure and that the decisions can be difficult. The questions they typically ask try to determine the girl's knowledge of the consequences, her mental health and her family situation.
"If anyone thinks they can get a rubber stamp, they won't,'' said Adams County District Judge Chris Melonakis. "We're essentially put in a position in the shoes of a parent. I'm going to take that responsibility seriously.''
Cited in:
Silverstein, Helena. Girls on the Stand: How Courts Fail Pregnant Minors, p. 144#36. NYU Press, 2007.