"I would say, honestly, almost every case has something really complicated to it," she said. While B faced extenuating circumstances and bad luck, Mariappuram of Jane's Due Process said that her organization's young clients often face delays. This was before SB-8, which meant B had up to 20 weeks to get an abortion. "I was just super scared, because I knew there was going to be a time limit with my abortion," B said.
That's when the winter storm Uri hit Texas, shutting down much of the critical infrastructure in the state. It meant B had to start the judicial bypass process all over again.īy the time she completed it for the second time, it was February 2021. "In a way, they were just trying to change my mind," she said.ī did get approval from the court to get an abortion, but shortly after the hearing, she found out the doctor who had performed her ultrasound had left the clinic. She felt the judge was questioning her character and ability to make a decision about her own body. She said it lasted just 30 minutes, but felt like hours. "I felt alone because the only person who supported me couldn't be with me," B said.ī got a hearing two weeks after her ultrasound. This was all happening during the pandemic, which meant B had to go to appointments without her partner. Texas law also required that the doctor who did the ultrasound would perform the abortion, if she got court approval. Her daughter having a child before marriage was not a part of that equation.ī found a clinic that would perform an ultrasound to prove that she was pregnant. for better opportunities for her children. "I had a fear that if I were to tell her I was pregnant, all her judgment and resentment would come crashing down on me."ī was living with her mother at the time, who B said had immigrated to the U.S. This experience was all too familiar for B because her sister had already given birth while in high school, which deeply affected the relationship between her sister and her mother. It's the same organization that helped B seek her judicial bypass.ī was frustrated that she had to endure a complicated court process without much support during an already stressful time, but she was grateful to have an alternative to telling her mother about her pregnancy.
They have to explain missing school, missing work, being away from home for a day or two," says Rosann Mariappuram, executive director of Jane's Due Process, an organization that helps teenagers navigate judicial bypass and interstate travel for abortion care. "Teens can't travel as easily as adults can, especially if they're keeping their pregnancy confidential. This would mean minors, who are already one of the most vulnerable groups seeking abortion in the U.S., would have to travel far and wide to seek abortion care. Pro-choice activist Lisa King holds a sign in front of the U.S. Jackson decision weakens or overturns federal abortion protections that were established under Roe v. Judicial bypass may disappear completely in states with restrictive abortion laws if the Supreme Court's forthcoming Dobbs v. "I was super scared because whenever you hear the word 'judge' or 'hearing,' it implies that you did something wrong," B said. But there is one way around this - it's called "judicial bypass." A minor can appear before a judge and prove they are capable of making the decision on their own. In Texas, where B lives, and in 36 other states in the U.S., minors must inform a parent of their pregnancy and get consent to terminate it. That's when she found out she needed parental consent. So, just hours after finding out she was pregnant, B went online to find a clinic near her that would perform an abortion. Abortion was the only choice for me," she said. "I immediately knew I couldn't take care of it. It was the end of 2020, during her final year of high school. "I felt like my whole life was going to go down the drain because that's how society portrays it."ī, who we are referring to by her first initial because she's not ready for her family to know her story, was 17 years old when she found out she was pregnant. "I kind of went robotic and shut everything out, any emotions or anything," she said.
The process that lets minors seek an abortion without telling their parents may disappear.ī was at her partner's house one day when she had a gut instinct, a churning feeling inside her body that led her to take a pregnancy test.