Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Florida Court Rules Parentless Pregnant Teen Not 'Mature' Enough To Get Abortion

Florida Court Rules Parentless Pregnant Teen Not 'Mature' Enough To Get Abortion
John Parra/Getty Images for MoveOn

A Florida court ruled a parentless 16-year-old was not mature enough for an abortion but was mature enough to be forced to give birth.

The girl petitioned the court to be allowed an abortion without parental consent—as a law signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis two years ago requires—because she is "parentless" as described in court documents.


But Monday a Florida appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling that the pregnant 16-year-old was not yet "mature" enough to receive an abortion and must be forced to carry her pregnancy to term.

The ruling sparked countrywide outrage.

The teen had testified previously to Escambia County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Frydrychowicz that she was not ready to be a mother, had no job and no high school diploma. She was living with a relative while finishing her GED.

She also told Frydrychowicz she had weighed all available medical options and understood the pros and cons of an abortion.

But according to court documents, Frydrychowicz ruled the girl had not established “by clear and convincing evidence that she was sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy," a ruling Florida’s First District Court of Appeals upheld Monday.

One judge in the Court of Appeals partially dissented to the Court's ruling, Scott Makar, wrote the case should be returned to the trial court.

He urged the teen to make her case again, particularly because the teen had previously indicated her legal guardian "was fine" with her decision to terminate her pregnancy, which would make her request for an abortion within Florida's legal boundaries.

On Twitter, the teen's case left people outraged and disgusted.






Makar also noted in his dissent the girl had checked a box on a form declining her right to an attorney and suggested the case may have gone different if she'd been adequately represented.

The expectation a child should know how to properly file court documents for herself and be prepared to be a mother, but not to decide to not be a mother only underlined the hypocrisy of abortion bans like Florida's.

More from News

Jorma Taccone
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

'SNL' Alum Jorma Taccone Reveals He Shattered His Pelvis After Scary Fall Off Ladder

Actor and comedian Jorma Taccone recently joined his podcast from an unlikely location: a hospital bed.

Taccone, one of the members of the music and comedy group "The Lonely Island," which he formed with Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer, recently shattered his pelvis after falling 20 feet off a ladder.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jack Osbourne; Roger Waters
Charley Gallay/Getty Images for ALYST Health; Jim Dyson/Getty Images

Jack Osbourne Slams Pink Floyd's Roger Waters After His 'Pathetic' Ozzy Osbourne Diss

Just weeks after Black Sabbath lead singer and cultural icon Ozzy Osbourne's death, Pink Floyd's Roger Waters said Osbourne brought "hundreds of years" of "idiocy and nonsense" into the world via his family’s reality show.

Waters was appearing on The Independent Ink podcast when he made his remarks.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Bill Cassidy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
MSNBC

GOP Senator Rips RFK Jr's Hypocrisy After He Claims Trump Should Win Nobel Prize For COVID Vaccine

Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. clashed during a Senate Finance hearing after Kennedy agreed that President Donald Trump deserves a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed during the COVID-19 pandemic while also claiming the COVID-19 vaccine was deadly.

During his first administration, Trump announced Operation Warp Speed, the partnership initiated by the federal government to facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and medical treatments.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pete Buttigieg; Donald Trump
Alex Wong/Getty Images; Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Pete Buttigieg Bluntly Breaks Down Why He's Not Surprised Trump Rescinded Popular Biden Era Airline Rule

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg bluntly pointed out exactly why President Donald Trump just rescinded a popular Biden-era rule requiring airlines to compensate passengers for flight disruptions, showing he is not surprised in the least.

The Trump administration announced it will abandon the Biden administration's proposal that would have required airlines to compensate passengers stranded by cancellations or major delays caused by the carrier.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rosie O'Donnell; Donald Trump
Olivia Wong/Getty Images; Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Rosie O'Donnell Expertly Shreds Trump After He Shares Bizarre Photoshopped Picture Of Her

Actor and comedian Rosie O'Donnell criticized President Donald Trump after he shared a bizarre Photoshopped image of her face that characterizes her as angry and appears to mock her weight and once again threatened to revoke her U.S. citizenship.

O'Donnell and Trump have feuded for years and O'Donnell, fearing the worst once Trump won the 2024 election, moved to Ireland shortly before he was inaugurated. She has cited the risks Project 2025 and Trump's potential retribution pose to her and her nonbinary child.

Keep ReadingShow less