Not only is informed consent required prior to obtaining an abortion; in many states parental consent is required in order for a minor to obtain an abortion. States have different requirements with respect to parental consent.

Parental or Judicial Bypass

If a state requires parental permission for an unemanicapted minor to obtain an abortion and the parent or guardian refuses to give her permission, the minor may seek a parental or judicial bypass. If the state requires parental consent then the state is required to provide a bypass procedure in order to prevent the parent from having an absolute veto power over the minor's decision to have an abortion. There are four criteria that must be met for a bypass procedure to be found proper. The criteria are:

• The procedure must permit the minor to show that she is mature and has the proper information to make an abortion decision.
  
• The procedure must permit the minor to show that even if she cannot make the decision on her own that an abortion would be in her best interest.
  
• The procedure must insure the minor's anonymity.
  
• The procedure must insure that the court conducting the bypass procedure has the expectation that it may permit the abortion to take place.
  

The state may require a heightened standard of proof when the bypass procedure contemplates an ex parte proceeding that is uncontested.

Parental Veto

A parent does not have a constitutional right to absolutely veto a minor's decision to obtain an abortion. The minor's constitutional rights do not mature and come into being only when one attains the age of majority. Both the state and federal constitutions protect minors. Although states have an interest in protecting parental authority providing the parent with an absolute veto would result in a fundamental conflict between the parent and the minor.

Copyright 2010 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.