Nebraska Tells 16-Year-Old She’s Not ‘Mature’ Enough To Have Abortion
One would that that conservatives would be outraged that the government could tell someone whether or not the are required to carry a fetus to term. But Nebraska has a law that gets in the way of personal freedom.
Under the state’s current law, minors must obtain notarized legal consent from a parent or guardian before being allowed to have an abortion. There are three exceptions: a medical emergency, a situation in which there’s proven abuse or neglect in the home, or a situation in which the court agrees that there’s “clear and convincing evidence that the pregnant woman is both sufficiently mature and well-informed to decide whether to have an abortion.”
That’s a particularly harsh abortion law for minors. Nebraska used to require minors to notify their parent or guardian about their intent to have an abortion, but didn’t require them to obtain notarized consent in order to have the procedure. The state toughened the requirement in 2011.
