Identified as “Jane Doe” in court papers, a teenage girl successfully appealed a ruling this week barring her from accessing a legal abortion. A Florida circuit judge attempted to block the 17-year-old from getting an abortion, citing her poor grades, which he believed showed a lack of maturity, VICE News reported.
A panel of judges declared the teen mature enough to earn a “judicial bypass,” a legal process that allows minors to get abortions without the consent of their parents, in a 2-1 ruling in the Florida Second District Court of Appeal.
In the initial ruling, Hillsborough County Circuit Court Judge Jared E. Smith became laser-focused on the girl’s discrepant grades. In his ruling, he states that Doe had said she made mostly B’s in her testimony, but at the time of the ruling her GPA was 2.0—reason enough to deny her request for an abortion, according to Judge Smith.
“Clearly, a ‘B’ average would not equate to a 2.0 GPA,” Smith stated, adding that Doe’s “testimony evinces either a lack of intelligence or credibility, either of which weigh against a finding of maturity pursuant to the statute.”
But the appeals court saw things differently. Judge Darryl Casanueva and Judge Susan Rothstein-Youakim noted that Doe could have been making B’s and that her current GPA may not reflect her newer grades. They added, that in any case, “we observe a ‘C’ average demonstrates average intelligence for a high school student.”
“The evidence certainly did not show that her overall intelligence was ‘less than average,’” Casanueva wrote in the 22-page ruling.
The appeals court also debunked other claims made by Smith on why Doe should not get an abortion including the fact that she does not care for younger family members to assess her emotional stability. Casanueva pointed out that Doe doesn’t have younger siblings for this claim to apply.
Additionally, Smith argued that Doe “has never had any financial responsibilities, even so much as paying her own cellphone bills.” Casanueva found that Doe works about 20 hours a week, has $1,600 in savings, two credit cards, and pays for practically everything but her cellphone bills.
Doe’s “testimony demonstrates that she possesses an ability to assess the consequences of her choice and the risk it entails,” Casanueva wrote.
According to Casanueva’s ruling, Doe said she wanted an abortion because “she is not yet financially stable and that she wants to be able to be on her own first.” She noted that Doe plans to go into the military, then go to college and become a nurse.
Judge John Stargel was the only member of the appeals court panel to dissent from the ruling to let Doe get an abortion. He claimed that Doe’s statement that she was currently receiving B grades indicated her GPA was previously “even lower” than 2.0.
“In the statute under consideration, the legislature simply states that ‘overall intelligence’ is a factor and leaves that determination to the trier of fact, who can certainly include evidence beyond GPA or grades when appropriate,” Stargel wrote. “The trial court here clearly considered many factors in reaching its determination.”
He wrote that the trial judge correctly determined the girl was not “sufficiently mature by clear and convincing evidence” to decide on having an abortion without parental guidance. Additionally, Stargel noted that Doe made misspellings and grammatical errors in her petition.
Stargel’s stance and statement were widely criticized, with many noting his connection to Florida state Sen. Kelli Stargel, who introduced a bill to ban almost all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
In an email to the Ledger, the state senator confirmed that she and her husband share many of the same values, but added that their official activities are separate.
"In terms of the underlying issue, from what I have seen, the social media-driven rage over my husband’s dissent is rife with pro-abortion rhetoric, yet so short on actual facts, I really have to question whether they actually read anything about the case," Stargel wrote.
"With specific regard to this case, the point (Judge Stargel) makes in his dissent, which is very clear to anyone who took the time to read it, is that the trial court judge who had the opportunity to closely review all the facts and actually meet the young woman, was in the best posture to make a determination about whether or not she provided sufficient evidence to show she is mature enough to make the decision to undergo a life-changing medical procedure without involving her parents."
According to VICE, about 38 states, including Florida require parents to be notified if a minor wants to get an abortion. While most of these states have set up judicial bypass systems, what the criteria are for obtaining the bypass is unclear.
In various incidents, judges have allegedly deemed minors too immature to get an abortion. Apparently, those who are too immature to have an abortion are mature enough to have children. Not that Doe’s grades matter, but denying an abortion based on grades is ridiculous—especially citing someone’s lack of good grades as a reason to bar a legal abortion. Having a child will likely create more difficulty in schoolwork and scheduled class attendance, thus weakening their GPA further.
Abortion rights are human rights. No one should have to face such obstacles to obtain autonomy over their own body.
