THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent, v. A. FRANS KOOME, Appellant
No. 42645
En Banc
January 7, 1975
84 Wn.2d 901
Christopher T. Bayley, Prosecuting Attorney, and Sharon A. Finegold, Deputy, for respondent.
UTTER, J.-Appellant, Dr. A. Frans Koome, was charged with performing an abortion on an unmarried minor woman without first obtaining the consent of her parents as required in
In July 1972, a young woman, 16 years old, unmarried, pregnant, and for some 18 months a ward of the King County Juvenile Court, petitioned that court for an order allowing her to have an abortion. Her parents and her temporary guardian, Catholic Children‘s Services, who had refused to consent to the operation, opposed the petition. A hearing was held at which considerable testimony and argument was presented, and after which the court entered the requested order authorizing the abortion.
The parents then petitioned this court for a writ of certiorari reviewing the order, and an immediate stay pending that review. The stay was granted, in effect suspending the consent to the abortion that the Juvenile Court had given, and Dr. Koome was advised of that fact. In spite of the stay, however, he performed the operation on August 15, 1972. For so contravening this court‘s order, he was subsequently held in contempt. In re Koome, 82 Wn.2d 816, 514 P.2d 520 (1973).
Dr. Koome‘s later criminal conviction for the same act, which is before us in this case, was under
A pregnancy of a woman not quick with child and not more than four lunar months after conception may be
lawfully terminated under RCW 9.02.060 through9.02.090 only: (a) with her prior consent and, if married and residing with her husband or unmarried and under the age of eighteen years, with the prior consent of her husband or legal guardian, respectively, . . .
We hold that this statute too broadly encumbers the right of unmarried minor women to choose to terminate pregnancy, and unjustifiably discriminates between similarly situated groups of women in terms of their right to obtain a legal abortion. In so doing, we follow the unanimous decisions of the two three-judge federal courts and two lower state courts which have reviewed similar statutes. Coe v. Gerstein, 376 F. Supp. 695 (S.D. Fla. 1973), appeal dismissed, 417 U.S. 279, 41 L. Ed. 2d 68, 94 S. Ct. 2246 (1974); Doe v. Rampton, 366 F. Supp. 189 (D. Utah 1973); Jones v. Smith, 278 So. 2d 339 (Fla. App. 1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 958 (1974); In re P.J., 2 Family Planning/Population Reporter 57 (D.C. Super. Ct. Family Div. 1973).
In Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 35 L. Ed. 2d 147, 93 S. Ct. 705 (1973), and Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 35 L. Ed. 2d 201, 93 S. Ct. 739 (1973), the United States Supreme Court held that “the Fourteenth Amendment‘s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action” contains a right of privacy which “is broad enough to encompass a woman‘s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” Roe v. Wade, supra at 153. Following a long line of its cases the court characterized this right, like others involving control of one‘s reproductive functions, as “fundamental.” Roe at page 155. Cf. Skinner v. Oklahoma, 316 U.S. 535, 86 L. Ed. 1655, 62 S. Ct. 1110 (1942); Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 14 L. Ed. 2d 510, 85 S. Ct. 1678 (1965); Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438, 453-54, 31 L. Ed. 2d 349, 92 S. Ct. 1029 (1972); Cleveland Bd. of Educ. v. LaFleur, 414 U.S. 632, 39 L. Ed. 2d 52, 94 S. Ct. 791 (1974).
The Roe and Doe decisions held that state statutes which denied or conditioned the right of adult women to choose abortion were inadequately justified, and consequently vio-
Prima facie, the constitutional rights of minors, including the right of privacy, are coextensive with those of adults. Where minors’ rights have been held subject to curtailment by the state in excess of that permissible in the case of adults it has been because some peculiar state interest existed in the regulation and protection of children, not because the rights themselves are of some inferior kind. Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158, 168-70, 88 L. Ed. 645, 64 S. Ct. 438 (1944); Ginsberg v. New York, 390 U.S. 629, 638, 20 L. Ed. 2d 195, 88 S. Ct. 1274 (1968). In some other cases minors’ rights have been differentiated from those of adults because of a fundamental difference in the nature of the particular state interaction with juveniles. McKeiver v. Pennsylvania, 403 U.S. 528, 547-50, 29 L. Ed. 2d 647, 91 S. Ct. 1976 (1971); In re Lewis, 51 Wn.2d 193, 316 P.2d 907 (1957); Estes v. Hopp, 73 Wn.2d 263, 438 P.2d 205 (1968).
Several courts have upheld minors’ privacy rights where no such special context or state interest existed. E.g., Breen v. Kahl, 419 F.2d 1034 (7th Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 398 U.S. 937 (1970); Coe v. Gerstein, supra; Doe v. Rampton, supra at 202-03; Merriken v. Cressman, 364 F. Supp. 913 (E.D. Pa. 1973). Recognition of the equal status of the rights of minors seems particularly necessary with regard to the privacy rights involved here. In Roe, at page 153, Justice
The detriment that the State would impose upon the pregnant woman by denying this choice altogether is apparent. Specific and direct harm medically diagnosable even in early pregnancy may be involved. Maternity, or additional offspring, may force upon the woman a distressful life and future. Psychological harm may be imminent. Mental and physical health may be taxed by child care. There is also the distress, for all concerned, associated with the unwanted child, and there is the problem of bringing a child into a family already unable, psychologically and otherwise, to care for it. In other cases, as in this one, the additional difficulties and continuing stigma of unwed motherhood may be involved.
Virtually every one of these problems and risks is magnified where the pregnant woman is underage. See Note, The Minors’ Right to Abortion and the Requirement of Parental Consent, 60 Va. L. Rev. 305, 307-08 (1974); Pilpel, Minors’ Rights to Medical Care, 36 Albany L. Rev. 462-63 (1972), and authorities cited therein.
We do not learn from the opinion in Roe v. Wade, supra, the age of plaintiff Roe, the pregnant woman who enjoyed the “fundamental“, “personal right of privacy” recognized by the Supreme Court. But we do know that a pregnant woman under 18 years of age cannot, under the law, be distinguished from one over 18 years of age in reference to “fundamental“, “personal“, constitutional rights.
Coe v. Gerstein, supra at 698.
Subjection of a minor woman‘s decision to terminate an unwanted pregnancy to absolute and potentially arbitrary parental veto clearly constitutes a substantial burden on her rights similar to those held unconstitutional in Roe and Doe. The State argues, however, that the impact of the consent requirement is mitigated by the possibility of juvenile court intervention under
Even if juvenile court intervention were established and automatic, the delays and costs inherent in litigation themselves would comprise an unworkable burden. Minor women unwilling to add litigation against their parents to their already acute personal difficulties would gain little from the possibility of court intervention. And even those who were sufficiently determined to go to court would find the costs of publicity, delay and anxiety substantial. Hearings imposing just such costs were held impermissible in Doe v. Bolton, supra at 197-99. See also Doe v. Rampton, supra at 203.
The question then becomes whether the statute‘s abridgment of fundamental rights is justified by some “compelling state interest” which it furthers. If it is not its impact constitutes a violation of due process. Roe v. Wade, supra at 155, 164; Coe v. Gerstein, supra at 697. Roe and Doe make clear that, at least during the first trimester of pregnancy, state interests in maternal health or the protection of the fetus are inadequate to justify interference with the pregnant woman‘s right to consult with her doctor and decide herself whether or not to continue her pregnancy to term. Roe v. Wade, supra at 156-65. Thus, the restrictions on that decision provided by the statute before us here can only be sustained if some additional state interest is present in the case of unmarried minor women which will justify them. The State argues that two such purposes are furthered by the requirement of parental consent: the assurance of an adequately reflective and informed decision on the part of
The contention that the statute can be justified as supportive of parental authority as an end in itself is not urged strongly by the State, and cannot be sustained. Although the family structure is a fundamental institution of our society, and parental prerogatives are entitled to considerable legal deference (Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 651, 31 L. Ed. 2d 551, 92 S. Ct. 1208 (1972)), they are not absolute and must yield to fundamental rights of the child or important interests of the State. Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158, 88 L. Ed. 645, 64 S. Ct. 438 (1944); Rowan v. United States Post Office Dep‘t, 397 U.S. 728, 741, 25 L. Ed. 2d 736, 90 S. Ct. 1484 (1970) (Brennan, J., concurring); Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 243-46, 32 L. Ed. 2d 15, 92 S. Ct. 1526 (1972) (Douglas, J., dissenting in part); In re Palmer, 81 Wn.2d 604, 503 P.2d 464 (1972).
In the circumstances envisioned by this statute, there seems to be little parental control left for the State to help salvage: An unmarried minor has become pregnant, and her determination to get an abortion is unalterably opposed by her parents. Reestablishment of parental control by resort to the pure force of the criminal law seems both futile and manifestly unwise in such a situation. Moreover, it should be recognized that considerations of the rights of parents in raising children do not argue solely for the implementation of the pregnant minor woman‘s parents’ will. She herself is on the verge of becoming a mother, and if she bears the child she will be entitled to its custody and control.
Nor does the asserted state interest in ensuring that the decision to complete or terminate a pregnancy be informed justify the decisive impact of this statute on the minor woman‘s rights. It is true that the gravity of the abortion decision is such that information and reflection are vital to
This case graphically demonstrates that the reasons for refusing consent may be ill-advised or otherwise improper. The father of the minor woman testified that his opposition to the abortion stemmed from his belief that continuing her pregnancy to term would deter her from becoming pregnant in the future. In Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438, 448, 31 L. Ed. 2d 349, 92 S. Ct. 1029 (1972), the Supreme Court indicated that a similar rationale for an anti-contraception statute would be wholly irrational. Her guardian, Catholic Children‘s Services, opposed the abortion on religious grounds. That the legal imposition of such religious mores on a child is constitutionally impermissible is beyond question. Wisconsin v. Yoder, supra at 243-46 (Douglas, J., dissenting in part); Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421, 8 L. Ed. 2d 601, 82 S. Ct. 1261, 86 A.L.R.2d 1285 (1962).
As the court held in Coe v. Gerstein, 376 F. Supp. 695, 698 (S. D. Fla. 1973), appeal dismissed, 417 U.S. 279, 41 L. Ed. 2d 68, 94 S. Ct. 2246 (1974), the state cannot constitutionally require consent where it gives the parent or guardian “the authority to withhold consent for abortions for any reason or no reason at all.” Coe at page 698. The “conclusive presumption” that the parents’ judgment is better than the pregnant woman‘s cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny. Stanley v. Illinois, supra; Cleveland Bd. of Educ. v. LaFleur, 414 U.S. 632, 39 L. Ed. 2d 52, 94 S. Ct. 791 (1974).
State restrictions on fundamental freedoms must be narrowly drawn to conform to the legitimate state interests to be furthered, and must not sweep too broadly over the
Certainly . . . parents ought to advise and guide their unmarried, minor daughters in a decision of such import. But a state which has no power to regulate abortions in certain areas simply cannot constitutionally grant power to . . . parents to regulate in those areas. Therefore . . . parents cannot look to the state to prosecute and punish the physician (or other participants) who performs an abortion against the wishes of the . . . parents.
Coe v. Gerstein, supra at 699.
Thus we find the State‘s interests in restricting minors’ access to abortions inadequate to satisfy the requirements of due process under Roe and Doe. In addition, we hold that the distinctions drawn between different classes of
The equal protection clause parallels the due process demand for adequate justification of state abridgement of fundamental rights. Jackson v. Indiana, 406 U.S. 715, 32 L. Ed. 2d 435, 92 S. Ct. 1845 (1972); Stanley v. Illinois, supra at 658. It also imposes the further requirement that classifications impacting on personal liberties be drawn narrowly and in conformance with the state purposes they are intended to serve. Legislative distinctions in protected areas must be carefully “‘tailored’ to achieve the articulated state goal.” Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U.S. 330, 357, 31 L. Ed. 2d 274, 92 S. Ct. 995 (1972); Eisenstadt v. Baird, supra at 450-51; Gunther, Foreword: In Search of Evolving Doctrine on a Changing Court: A Model for a Newer Equal Protection, 86 Harv. L. Rev. 1, 26-30 (1972), and cases there cited.
The distinction between unmarried pregnant women under 18 and those over the age of majority corresponds at best roughly to the state‘s interests in parental authority and reflective decisionmaking. Parental authority wanes gradually as a child matures; it does not suddenly disappear at adulthood. Similarly, the ability to competently make an important decision, such as that to have an abortion, develops slowly and at different rates in different
The fact that personal abilities and mental faculties develop gradually does not mean that the State cannot create age limits which do not perfectly correspond with the capacity of minors to act as adults, however. In many areas the State has a strong interest in restricting the activities of infants unable to exercise mature judgment, a subjective inquiry into the maturity of each individual minor is a practical impossibility, and any flat age limit is necessarily arbitrary. Cf. Oregon v. Mitchell, 400 U.S. 112, 142, 27 L. Ed. 2d 272, 91 S. Ct. 260 (1970) (Douglas, J.); Seattle v. Pullman, 82 Wn.2d 794, 810, 514 P.2d 1059 (1973) (Hunter, J., dissenting). In such circumstances imprecision in age classifications may be permissible, perhaps even where important rights are affected, because it is inevitable. In the case of the capacity to consent to abortion, however, these reasons for setting arbitrary age requirements are not present. The age of fertility provides a practical minimum age requirement for consent to abortion, reducing the need for a legal one. Ballard v. Anderson, 4 Cal. 3d 873, 883, 484 P.2d 1345, 95 Cal. Rptr. 1 (1971). The common law requires that a physician subjectively evaluate the capacity of a minor to
The statutory differentiation between pregnant minor women on the basis of their marital status similarly bears little relation to the asserted reasons for imposing the parental consent requirement. Parental authority may, in some families, remain strong after marriage, and in others disappear long before it. The main effect of this classification on the minor woman‘s relations with her family would, in any event, seem to be negative: the law encourages pregnant minors, whose parents withhold consent, to marry solely in order to then terminate an unwanted pregnancy. The statutory language would, in addition, seem to impose the parental consent requirement on minor women whose marriages have been dissolved; the State‘s interest in upholding parental control over such women is tenuous at best. Nor does this classification correspond to the need for adult guidance to insure informed and considered decisionmaking. Married minors are not necessarily more mature and responsible than their unmarried contemporaries. Yet the statute does not require a married woman to obtain the consent of her parents or any other adult.
In Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438, 31 L. Ed. 2d 349, 92 S. Ct. 1029 (1972), a Massachusetts law which made it a crime to provide contraceptives to unmarried persons was struck down as violative of the equal protection clause. The court held that the state‘s justifications for restricting the availability of contraceptives were applicable equally to married and unmarried persons. Consequently, the distinction based on marital status could not meet even the minimum standard of rationality applicable in the absence of a
Nor does the third statutory discrimination, between minors seeking abortions and those seeking other types of medical care, adequately conform to the interests the State has put forth. Abortion during early pregnancy is, after Roe, to be treated as a purely medical procedure, and “the abortion decision in all its aspects is inherently, and primarily, a medical decision.” Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 166, 35 L. Ed. 2d 147, 93 S. Ct. 705 (1973). Yet the restrictions imposed by the parental consent requirement of
A doctor competently performing any other type of surgery on a consenting minor runs virtually no risk of even civil liability because of the absence of parental consent. See Pilpel, Minors’ Rights to Medical Care, 36 Albany L. Rev. 462, 466 (1972). A doctor similarly performing an abortion chances criminal conviction. There is no inherent difference between these different forms of serious medical treatment in terms of the need for parental control or informed and intelligent choice which can explain or justify this gross distinction. The law of this state is that a minor‘s competence to consent to irreversible sterilization is to be determined on the facts of each case. Smith v. Seibly, supra. Some of the factors recognized as important in determining competence in Smith, at page 21, were “age, intelligence, maturity, training, experience, economic independence or lack thereof, general conduct as an adult and freedom from the control of parents . . .” An unmarried minor with all these attributes is still denied the right to decide for herself whether or not to bear a child she has conceived. In the context of Roe, the differential treatment of these two forms of birth control is tantamount to dis-
For these reasons we find that the parental consent requirement of
The decision of the trial court is reversed.
HALE, C.J., and ROSELLINI and BRACHTENBACH, JJ., concur.
FINLEY, J. (concurring)—I reach the same result as the majority opinion regarding the constitutional infirmities of the present statute. However, I am impelled to comment separately on several aspects of this case.
First, a review of the circumstances that brought this case before this court: The Juvenile Court had jurisdiction of the minor because she had previously been made a ward of the court pursuant to
Thus, but for the Chief Justice‘s stay order, the abortion would have been legal and this case would not be here. Moreover, the facts strongly indicate that the denial of parental consent essentially was for punitive and irrational reasons. Thus, if this court had heard the matter, it is highly dubious that we could have found a manifest abuse of discretion by the Juvenile Court and that we would have overturned its decision consenting to the abortion.
Consequently, the result reached by the majority is consistent with what would have occurred if this court had not originally entertained the matter via issuance of the stay order. If appellate courts are to review such cases, it is imperative that the procedure must be a viable and expeditious one to ensure that a final appellate decision will be rendered before the right to an abortion becomes a practical impossibility. Minors cannot be deprived of such rights without a meaningful opportunity to be heard. Cf. Armstrong v. Manzo, 380 U.S. 545, 14 L. Ed. 2d 62, 85 S. Ct. 1187 (1965).
Second, the precise effect of the court‘s holding in this case is to declare unconstitutional only that part of
Next, the majority suggests that a statute could be drafted that could withstand constitutional attack. I agree and think that this aspect of the case deserves some further elaboration. The validity of such legislation would depend, I think, upon two factors: (1) the nature of the reasons asserted for preventing an abortion; and (2) the procedural protections afforded to minors.
Considering the principles of constitutional law emphasized in the majority opinion, it now seems rather clear that only certain narrowly defined reasons can be asserted to justify restricting a minor‘s right of privacy concerning an abortion. The asserted reasons or justification for preventing an abortion must be sound and rational and be convincingly in the best interests of the minor. Elaborating further in this regard, it appears to me there could be two such reasons: (1) the existence of a physical ailment making an abortion more dangerous than childbirth; or (2) a greater probability of serious emotional instability resulting to the particular minor from an abortion than from childbirth.
To withstand constitutional attack, it would also be necessary in my judgment that future legislation contain procedural provisions, not unduly burdensome upon the minor, to assure that an abortion is to be prevented only for the above described legitimate reasons.
The present statute is fatally deficient in failing to provide such assurances. In a few isolated situations, a minor may be able to petition the juvenile court and be declared a ward of the court pursuant to
What is needed is a procedure which assures access to the judicial system for a determination of whether legally justifiable reasons exist to prevent a minor from having an abortion. Whatever process is devised, it should not be so cumbersome and onerous as to preclude the minor—for pecuniary or other reasons—from having access to that process.
One viable possibility, not unreasonably onerous to the minor but still compatible with the accomplishment of legitimate state interests, would be to require each physician who is requested to perform an abortion upon a minor to promptly notify the juvenile court and the parents or guardian of the minor. Then an opportunity could be afforded by law for the parents to petition the juvenile court for a hearing. If they assume the burden of proof and demonstrate either (1) that the minor suffers from a physical ailment that makes an abortion more dangerous than childbirth, or (2) that serious emotional instability would more likely be caused by the abortion than by childbirth, then I believe a state statute could legitimately prevent the abortion.
The procedure suggested would constitute a reasonable balancing of interests and would meet what I perceive to be a constitutional requirement, as I read Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 35 L. Ed. 2d 147, 93 S. Ct. 705 (1973), and Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 35 L. Ed. 2d 201, 93 S. Ct. 739 (1973), that state legislation ensure that only legitimate state interests may be employed to prevent an abortion.
Since the present statute does not provide the indicated assurances, I concur with the majority.
In January 1973, the United States Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 164, 35 L. Ed. 2d 147, 93 S. Ct. 705 (1973) and Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 35 L. Ed. 2d 201, 93 S. Ct. 739 (1973). As far as pertinent here, they held that “[f]or the stage prior to approximately the end of the first trimester, the abortion decision and its effectuation must be left to the medical judgment of the pregnant woman‘s attending physician.” While it is true that footnote 67 in Roe states the court did not decide the constitutionality of a provision requiring consent for a minor‘s abortion, one cannot dismiss the impact of Roe and Doe. Actually the decisions provide valuable guidelines for an analysis of the question before us.
Simply stated, at page 152, Roe took the following approach: (1) “a right of personal privacy, or a guarantee of certain areas or zones of privacy, does exist under the constitution“; (2) at page 153 the Roe court stated: “This right of privacy . . . is broad enough to encompass a woman‘s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy“; (3) regulations limiting a woman‘s fundamental right to privacy in having an abortion may be justified only by a “compelling state interest,” Roe at 155; (4) the compel-
With this outline in mind, our first step is to determine whether the right of privacy guarantied by the constitution is one enjoyed equally by minors. Although the Supreme Court has been less than precise in search of a basis for an individual‘s “right of privacy,” the majority in Roe, at page 153, indicates that this right is “founded in the Fourteenth Amendment‘s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action.” Since neither the Fourteenth Amendment nor the Bill of Rights is for adults alone, I would find that a minor has the same right to privacy as does an adult. In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 18 L. Ed. 2d 527, 87 S. Ct. 1428 (1967); see also Levy v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 68, 20 L. Ed. 2d 436, 88 S. Ct. 1509 (1968); Tinker v. Des Moines Ind. Community School Dist., 393 U.S. 503, 21 L. Ed. 2d 731, 89 S. Ct. 733 (1969). It would also appear that the minor‘s right of privacy is broad enough to encompass a minor‘s decision whether to terminate her pregnancy. Roe at 155. This right, however, is not absolute. It is subject to some limitation when the state‘s interest in the protection of health, prenatal life and medical standards touching the same become dominant. Roe at 155.
Since we are dealing with statutory limitation of a fundamental right, the limitation may be justified only by a compelling state interest. While in Roe the court found the interest of the state in the health of a pregnant adult did not reach the compelling state interest stage until the end of the first trimester, I would find that when the mother is
In this state, as in most, minors are not permitted to participate in some activities authorized for adults. A list of statutes providing for a difference in such events would unnecessarily lengthen this opinion. Nevertheless, they clearly illustrate that legislatures have regularly set minors apart for special consideration in the restriction of their activities. Further, courts have just as regularly recognized the validity of those special classifications. George v. United States, 196 F.2d 445 (9th Cir. 1952). As the United States Supreme Court said in Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158, 168, 88 L. Ed. 645, 64 S. Ct. 438 (1944), “the mere fact a state could not wholly prohibit this form of adult activity . . . does not mean it cannot do so for children.” In Ginsberg v. New York, 390 U.S. 629, 20 L. Ed. 2d 195, 88 S. Ct. 1274 (1968), the Supreme Court again recognized that the power of the state to regulate the activities of children is greater than its control over similar conduct by adults. Although Ginsberg did not involve the state‘s invasion of a minor‘s constitutionally protected freedoms, the court recognized that such freedoms could be curtailed by the state when similar freedoms enjoyed by an adult could not.
One reason for this distinction is the realization that minors are not equipped mentally or emotionally to cope with many of the major decisions that may confront them. Harrigfeld v. District Court, 95 Idaho 540, 511 P.2d 822 (1973); see generally 42 Am. Jur. 2d Infants § 1 (1969). I see this as the primary justification for the requirement of consent by a legal guardian imposed by
I also feel that the statute in question reflects the interest of the state, not in the actual decision whether to terminate a pregnancy, but in the quality of that decision (which of course includes the availability of objective interested advice) and the manner of its implementation and its execution. The ramifications of a decision to terminate a pregnancy by abortion do not end with the abortion. Legal abortions, as provided by our statute, are still relatively new in our society. The psychiatric aspects of abortion as compared with a pregnancy carried to term by a minor female are inconclusive because the medical authorities are not in agreement. For example, one study recommends that patients age nine to twenty who undergo abortions need a systematic 5-year follow-up.2
I feel that the interest of the state in the quality of the minor‘s abortion decision as well as in the mental health of a pregnant minor is of a compelling nature from the time of conception and justifies the State‘s infringement on a minor‘s right of privacy.
HUNTER, HAMILTON, and WRIGHT, JJ., concur with STAFFORD, J.