Pregnant and living in a shelter, a 13-year-old Palm Beach County girl is snared in a court fight of national scope after the state's social services agency blocked her attempt to have an abortion.
The legal and political wrangling surrounding the girl intensified Thursday as legislators and advocates weighed in on the case in light of state and federal efforts to pass a parental notification law that would apply to pregnant teens.
State law allows minors to have abortions without notifying their guardians. Experts say the law extends to wards of the state, raising the question of why this girl's decision has ended up before a judge.
Identified in court records simply as L.G., the girl's plans to end her 131/2-week pregnancy were thwarted when her guardian, the state Department of Children & Families, filed an emergency motion in Juvenile Court to prevent the abortion. The American Civil Liberties Union, represented by attorney James K. Green, filed an emergency appeal Wednesday arguing that neither the court nor DCF should be involved in L.G.'s decision.
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