Judge Strikes Down Michigan’s Parental Consent Abortion Law

A judge on Wednesday struck down Michigan’s law requiring teen-agers to receive a parent’s or judge’s permission for an abortion. He said it failed to make an exception for pregnancies that threaten a girl’s health but not her life.

Kalamazoo County Circuit Judge Philip Schaefer said the law violates the equal protection clause of the state constitution. It does so by making exceptions for girls whose pregnancies are deemed life-threatening but not for those whose pregnancies could cause less serious health problems, he said.

Those conditions, which could permanently impair the girl, are “emergencies where the medical standard of care requires the performance of an abortion, usually without the delay which might be occasioned by the requirement of parental consent or judicial bypass,” Schaefer said.

The law, which went into effect in March, 1991, requires girls under age 18 to have a parent’s consent or a probate judge’s waiver to have an abortion.

The state argued that the part of the law dealing with emergency exceptions could be considered “to imply risks to health,” and thus the law could be upheld. A spokeswoman for Atty. Gen. Frank Kelley declined to say if the ruling will be appealed.

Merilee Mishall, an abortion counselor at Planned Parenthood of South Central Michigan, said most teen-agers involve their parents in the decision.

“I think for the small percentage of teens who cannot go to one or both parents, this is good news,” Mishall said.