Minors seeking abortions in West Virginia may have to get permission from a judge first

Just how far is too far to go in limiting women’s access to choice? Well, West Virginia is determined to find out. On Monday, its House of Delegates Committee on the Judiciary sent House Bill 2002, a bill that places restrictions on abortions obtained by minors, to a subcommittee for review. 

Currently, West Virginia law requires that parents of minors are notified 24 hours before performing an abortion but the law includes an exception: minors wishing to obtain an abortion but not wishing to notify their parents can seek a waiver from a judge or a doctor. However, with this proposed bill, lawmakers are proposing to remove the option of receiving a waiver from a doctor entirely.

The bill, sponsored by Delegate Kayla Kessinger, R-Fayette, removes the physician waiver option and requires an unemancipated minor to obtain permission from a judge to undergo an abortion without notifying a parent or legal guardian.

In 2015, no West Virginia minors used the judicial bypass option — a procedure the American Academy of Pediatrics has said “poses risks of medical and psychological harm.”

This is nonsensical. Besides the gross infringement on the minor’s medical privacy, judges are not at all qualified to discuss and decide on medical matters for others—least of all those pertaining to sexual and reproductive health. In fact, a number of legal, health and women’s advocacy groups testified against passage of the bill stating this very fact: that medical professionals, not judges, are best qualified to determine if it’s appropriate to waive parental consent for abortions.