The Florida State appeals court ruled that a 17-year-old can get an abortion without parental consent, overturning a county judge ruling that denied her request because of her low grades.
Anyone under the age of 18 in Florida is required to have parental consent to get an abortion or talk to a doctor about the procedure.
According to Insider, the teen, who was not identified in court documents, told Hillsborough County judge Jared Smith that she researched the procedure and plans to speak to a doctor. She also made it clear that she decided against adoption.
However, Smith denied her request to waive the requirement for parental consent in part because of her low grades.
“The court found her intelligence to be less than average because ‘[w]hile she claimed that her grades were ‘Bs’ during her testimony, her GPA is currently 2.0,” Smith wrote, according to court documents. “Clearly, a ‘B’ average would not equate to a 2.0 GPA.”
The teen appealed the decision and the judges on the 2nd District Court of Appeal sided with her in a 2-1 ruling.
The teen testified that she lives with her father and he does not support abortions except in the case of rape. She testified that she has a job and pays for everything outside the necessities her father pays for. She wants an abortion because she is “not yet financially stable,” enough to raise a child.
Her boyfriend also supports her decision to have an abortion.
The teen’s “testimony demonstrates that she possesses an ability to assess the consequences of her choice and the risk it entails, as well as the intention to reassess her decision after direct consultation with her physician,” Judge Darryl Casanueva and Judge Susan Rothstein-Youakim wrote in their ruling, according to CBS.
“For appellate purposes, it is not necessary for the members of this panel to agree with her conclusions or to approve them,” the judges wrote. “Rather, it is appropriate to measure each conclusion against the terms legislatively pronounced as factors to be considered. This record demonstrates that the petitioner’s testimony regarding the statutory factors was precise, explicit, and lacked any hint of confusion. It is of sufficient weight to entitle the petitioner to the requested relief.”
The teen said in court that she is “making Bs, so she hopes to bring her GPA up.” She plans to one day join the military, then go to college, and ultimately study to become a nurse.
