Assuming Every Woman Is a Minor and Other Ways Texas Plans to Restrict Abortion Access

By Judd Legum, ThinkProgress

26 May 15

inors in Texas are required to obtain parental consent before getting an abortion. It is possible, however, for a small number of young women — less than 300 per year — to bypass this requirement through the court system. Under Texas law, judges can allow minors to obtain an abortion under limited circumstances, including situations where notifying a parent could “lead to sexual, physical, or emotional abuse.” The judicial bypass is difficult to obtain because it was written by conservatives who oppose abortion rights.

The Texas Senate spent Memorial Day further restricting abortion access for these teenage girls.

The bill in question, HB 3994, removes the specific provision that allows for judicial bypass when “notifying their parents could lead to physical, sexual or emotional abuse.” The sponsor of the bill, Charles Perry, says abuse issues could be brought up under another section of the bypass statute that allows for a judge to grant an abortion without parental consent if it’s in minor’s “best interest.” The change does appear to provide judges with additional leeway to deny an abortion even if seeking parental notification would result or likely result in abuse.

The measure limits the options for young women in difficult situations in numerous other ways. For example, teens would only be permitted to seek a judicial bypass in the county where they live. Under current law, they can seek a judicial bypass in any county. (The new bill does allow them to go to an adjacent county or the country where they will get the abortion procedure if “a minor lives in a county that has a population under 10,000.”)

HB 3994 would also increase the standard of proof imposed on teens from a “preponderance of the evidence” standard to a more difficult “clear and convincing” evidence standard.

A controversial provision that would have required clinics to assume that every woman was a minor and ask for ID prior to performing a procedure was revised somewhat. Now, clinics would have to use “due diligence” to determine a woman’s age and report to the state how many abortions were performed without obtaining ID.

The Texas House now has until Sunday to resolve this and other small differences with the Senate legislation.

Activists protested the legislators actions under the hashtag #HereForJaneTX. The pregnant minors seeking judicial bypass are known as “Janes,” because they are referred to as “Jane Doe” in court records.