Justices of the Nebraska Supreme Court

Justices of the Nebraska Supreme Court

Perspicacious online warrior/organizer Natasha Chart flagged today's 5-2 unsigned Nebraska Supreme Court decision denying an pregnant Omaha sixteen-year-old the ability to make the health decisions which she felt were right for her, instead forcing her to carry her pregnancy to term.

The decision itself is ghastly, but the process by which this young woman's rights were taken away from her was even worse. First, today's decision. As the Court laid out the facts:

Petitioner is 16 years old and 10 weeks along in her pregnancy. Due to abuse and neglect by petitioner’s biological parents, a juvenile court entered an order in February 2011, placing her temporary custody with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (Department). A juvenile case was initiated, and petitioner and her two siblings, ages 9 and 7, were placed in a foster home through the Department. In May 2013, the juvenile court entered an order terminating by relinquishment the parental rights of petitioner’s biological parents. At the confidential hearing, petitioner explained her desire for an abortion. She testified that she would not be able to financially support a child or “be the right mom that [she] would like to be right now.” She feared that she might lose her foster placement if her foster parents learned of her pregnancy. Petitioner testified that her foster parents have strong religious beliefs about abortion. She felt that her foster parents “would not okay” an abortion and that “they would not just be taking it out on [petitioner], it would also be taken out on the child.” Petitioner believed that putting the child up for adoption would be worse for her and her family because her foster parents would have resentment toward her. Petitioner feared that her foster parents would tell her siblings that she was a “bad person.” The court stated that “when you have the abortion it’s going to kill the child inside you,” and petitioner responded that she understood. Petitioner answered, “Yes,” when the court asked if she would “rather do that than to risk problems with the foster care people?”

The trial court judge, Peter Bataillon, went against her at every turn, deciding that even though her biological parents had relinquished their parental rights, she still required a foster parent's consent under the law; that the "victim of abuse" exception to the consent requirement only applied to abuse by one's current parents, and not to the abuse she had suffered from her biological parents; and that she was insufficiently mature to make this decision without their consent.

Today's 5-2 decision affirmed Judge Bataillon's decisions on the facts and law, with much deference to his evaluation of this young woman's maturity:

In evaluating her maturity, a trial court “‘may draw inferences from the minor’s composure, analytic ability, appearance, thoughtfulness, tone of voice, expressions, and her ability to articulate her reasoning and conclusions.’” The latter items are matters that we cannot discern from the cold record before us and are another reason why we elect to give weight to the fact that the trial judge heard and observed petitioner in finding her not to be mature and well informed.

Below the fold, why Judge Bataillon really can't be trusted to protect women's rights to make their own health care decisions. You'll be appalled.