A Pennsylvania court cannot deny judicial authorization to a minor for an abortion purely because the minor did not receive parental consent for the abortion, the state Supreme Court ruled.
The Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act requires unemancipated children under the age of 18 to receive parental permission to undergo an abortion. The act provides, however, that the pregnant youth can obtain a “judicial bypass” of the parental consent requirement if the court finds the minor is “‘mature and capable of giving informed consent to the proposed abortion, and has, in fact, given such consent.’”
