West Palm Beach, Fla. – A judge ruled that a 13-year-old girl at the center of an abortion fight with the state may terminate her pregnancy, and Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday that the state will not appeal further.
Juvenile Court Judge Ronald Alvarez ruled Monday that the teen, who has been in state custody for four years, would not be physically or emotionally harmed. Last week, Alvarez blocked the girl’s abortion until after a psychological evaluation.
“He ruled that she is competent, that she has made a decision and that she has a right to act on that decision,” said Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the girl.
Lawyers for the girl, who is 14 weeks pregnant and known only as L.G. in court papers, would not say whether she’d had the abortion after the judge allowed her to do so Monday. But attorney James Green said Tuesday that “the case is over.”
State Department of Children & Families spokeswoman Marilyn Munoz said the agency would “respectfully comply with the court’s decision.”
“We are working for the best interest of the young girl,” Munoz said.
The teen became pregnant after running away from the Department of Children & Families shelter where she lives. The department had argued that the girl was too young and immature to decide for herself to have an abortion. The agency said state law prohibited the agency from consenting to the procedure.
The girl told the judge last week as part of the evaluation that she wanted an abortion, citing her age and no way to support a baby. The girl’s ACLU attorneys argued that Florida law protects a minor’s right to choose an abortion.
