Teen Abortions Put In Judges' Hands
MEMPHIS -- Judge Rita Stotts found an unwed teenage mother in her courtroom earlier this year seeking approval for an abortion without her parents' consent.
The Shelby County Circuit Court judge was amazed that state law allowed it - and it was up to her to decide.
"I demanded to see the statute because I had no clue," she said. "I would imagine there are a lot of other citizens who are not aware of it."
Longtime Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth Turner normally hears the cases.
But Turner, 77, has been recovering after injuries from a fall and several controversial cases have wound up before Stotts and her eight circuit court colleagues.
The process is cloaked. Files are sealed, the young women are assigned pseudonyms and it's even difficult for court officials to figure out the status of the cases.
Furthermore, the issue has divided the court in Shelby County, where two judges recuse themselves from the cases. Judges John R. McCarroll and Donna Fields say they can't make the decisions because they are morally opposed to abortion.
"In the case of abortion, the child is always innocent, therefore, it is intrinsically evil to take the life of the unborn, whether a fetus or an embryo," McCarroll said in a written statement. "Taking the life of an innocent human being is contrary to the moral order."
Stotts said most of the other judges are handling the randomly assigned cases.
"My concern was that it might suggest to the public that the others who hear the cases don't have some kind of misgivings about it. I, for one, do have some concerns about it. I won't open up a political bag," Stotts said. "But I feel that I'm duty bound by virtue of my having taken the oath of office. It's one of those times in life where your professional calling may come head on with whatever your religious beliefs may be."
A minor seeking an abortion without the consent of a parent or guardian may, under the 1989 Tennessee law, petition any Juvenile Court for permission. With Turner off the bench, those cases are going straight to circuit court.
The court can give its consent if the judge concludes the girl is "mature and well informed enough" to make the decision on her own or that the abortion is in her "best interests," according to the law.
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/state/ar
ticle/0,1406,KNS_348_3868067,00.html
Posted by Editor at June 20, 2005 08:14 AM
