Posted on 05/03/2005 9:50:07 AM PDT by IMissPresidentReagan
A judge has ruled that a 13-year-old girl at the center of an abortion fight with the state may terminate her pregnancy.
Juvenile Judge Ronald Alvarez (search) on Monday ruled that the teen, who has been in state custody for four years, would not be physically or emotionally harmed by the procedure. Last week, Alvarez blocked the girl's abortion until a psychological evaluation was completed.
"He ruled that she is competent, that she has made a decision and that she has a right to act on that decision," said Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida American Civil Liberties Union (search), which represented the girl.
The state Department of Children & Families had argued that the girl, known only in court papers as L.G., (search) was too young and immature to decide for herself to have an abortion. The agency said state law prohibited the agency from consenting to the procedure.
Children and families officials declined to comment Monday on whether they planned to appeal Alvarez's decision.
"Since this is still in litigation, I can't speak to what's going on in court," agency spokeswoman Marilyn Munoz told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Attorneys for the girl said the abortion was scheduled for Monday, but it was unclear whether the girl underwent the procedure.
The girl told the judge last week as part of the psychological evaluation process that she wanted an abortion, citing her age and no way to support a baby. The girl's attorneys argue that Florida law protects a minor's right to choose an abortion.
A measure is moving through the state Legislature to require notification of parents or guardians when girls seek abortion. In 2003, the Florida Supreme Court struck down a 1999 law requiring parents to be notified if their minor daughters seek an abortion.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
In reading the "North Florida" case, I have a hard time understanding how even the court gets a say so. If a minor says to the doctor, I want an abortion, and the minor's physical health can stand the procedure (and any other qualifications are met), she's entitled to it without a need for court or parental consent.
Otherwise, it's paradise here. At least our lives don't depend on having heat in the winter! I won't live anywhere else.
Under Roe and Casey, that can't be dispositive.
However, who got the 12 year old pregnant? Shouldn't there be rape charges and the baby's remains held for DNA evidence to establish paternity.
Many statutory rape laws have a "Romeo and Juliet" exception where a minor close to the same age is not liable for statuory rape when it is consenual, for example, Model Penal Code 213.3(1)(a), but interestingly enough, Florida explicitly does not, L.L.N. v. State, 504 So.2d 6 (1987).
"A lawyer for a fetus! Let's take it one step further. Lawyers for sperm and eggs. Then we can start to sue the contraceptive companies for murder. Or just go even one more step further. Outlaw sex except for the purpose of creating a baby."
PURE HYPERBOLE and you know it, Trollbait-boy.
A fetus is a baby - it has unique DNA, it is a complete human.
Sperm and egg do not and are not until they unite and the egg is fertilized.
"I wonder just how many rabid right to life advocates will give a damn about either of these children five minutes after she gave birth?"
Straight out of planned parenthood bile-literature.
You conveniently ignore the number of orphanages and support services run by religious organizations. Look up "abortion alternatives" and the services that they provide.
As the Florida situation shows, the willingness of the courts to legislate goes beyond the US Supreme Court. Roe could be reversed tomorrow (it will never be, IMO, because the court is too arrogant), and each state court would step in to fill the gap and prevent legislation that restricts abortion.
I don't doubt that in the least. But I sure would love to see abortion out of the courts entirely. Both sides are getting into the "my judge is bigger than your judge" mindset!
At least if it were decided in the legislatures, we the people could vote in or out the decision makers.
Florida....again.
How did this ever get before a judge when the teen has the right to abort to her heart's content without any guardian interference? Good question.
If she was too young and immature to decide for herself to have an abortion then she certainly was too young and immature to have a baby.
Much easier to impeach state judges.
Much easier to impeach state judges
***
And they are elected I do believe.
But a distinction without a practical difference. Neither state nor federal legislatures exercize their power of impeachment, especially not when the courts usurp the legislative function.
The people blame the courts, and the legislators duck the controversy. The public doesn't call on the legislators to exercise their power to impeach. In fact, I'll bet the public doesn't know the legislators even have that power. Or if they do, they perceive the power as being limited to removing drunk, incompetent and senile judges.
Seriously, you're right.
Here's someone who fell ill in Alabama, got placed in a nursing home in Florida, and ended up having a Florida judge order her death by starvation/dehydration --even though she cried out to nursing staff for food!
The Case of Marjorie Nighbert:
As she was slowly dehydrating to death, Marjorie began to beg the staff for food and water.Distraught nurses and staff members, not knowing what else to do, surreptitiously snuck her small amounts. One staffer—who was later fired for the deed—blew the whistle, leading to a hurried court investigation and a temporary restraining order requiring that Marjorie receive nourishment.
[Florida] Circuit Court Judge Jere Tolton appointed attorney William F. Stone to represent Marjorie and gave him twenty-four hours to determine whether she was competent to rescind the general power of attorney she had given to Maynard before her stroke. After the rushed investigation, Stone was forced to report that Marjorie was not competent at that time. (She had, after all, been intentionally malnourished for several weeks.) Stone particularly noted that he had been unable to determine whether she had been competent at the time the dehydration commenced.
With Stone’s report in hand, Judge Tolton ruled that the dehydration should be completed...
So say the dissents in Roe, Planned Parenthood, and other cases.
O'Connor's opinion in Planned Parenthood is a hoot. It says that since the court settled this matter, it would be wrong to return it to the people. To do so would create social havoc.
Heheheh. Not funny ha ha, but incredible that the people put up with being ruled by judges.
No, no social havoc here!
[T]he teen, who has been in state custody for four years
Gee, they're doing a helluva job, aren't they?
Child protection myass.
When I lived in California, we aborted Rose Bird and I believe we passed prop.13 on that same day...that was a nice election day.
In Minnesota we elect our judges but I guess they are appointed in other states. The people will demand that they vote for their judges in states where those judges are acting against the people and their elected reps aren't fixing the problem.
The courts have determined that a 13 year old girl is competent to decide if she wants an abortion.
Then, is a 13 year old girl also competent to decide if she wants to have sex with a 40 year old man? In for a penny, in for a pound, whats the difference?
A decision to overrule Roe's essential holding under the existing circumstances would address error, if error there was, at the cost of both profound and unnecessary damage to the Court's legitimacy, and to the Nation's commitment to the rule of law. It is therefore imperative to adhere to the essence of Roe's original decision, and we do so today.http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=505&invol=833
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHEASTERN PA. v. CASEY, 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
Thank you. Food for thought.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.