ST. LOUIS — Even though Illinois has made it easier for minors to get an abortion, a little-known Missouri law can prevent pregnant teens who seek the procedure from getting help to cross the state line.
The law means additional challenges for vulnerable teens who need help as they navigate a post-Roe world that is sending droves of people to states where abortion is legal. Missouri is among a dozen states that no longer provide abortion except in limited circumstances, and more are expected to follow.
“I think there is concern — a concern across the board — that there will be a swell of patients heading towards fewer and fewer clinics,” said , a Ƶan who last year started a texting support service in Missouri for pregnant teens. “Teens are vulnerable because they don’t have full control over how they can schedule or get to somewhere.”
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that anyone who helps a minor obtain an abortion without the informed written consent of a parent or guardian and notification of any other custodial parent can be sued by the minor or by the parents or guardians of the minor.
As an alternative, the Missouri law allows a pregnant teen to obtain a “judicial bypass,” giving a judge the ability to decide if the minor is mature enough to pursue an abortion on her own.
The Missouri Supreme Court has narrowed the law to only apply to assistance provided within Missouri, such as transportation or money. And assistance does not include information or counseling, so as not to infringe on the right to free speech.
The law restricts what the in Fairview Heights, created by Planned Parenthood and nearby Hope Clinic to assist those traveling to the Metro East for an abortion, can do to help Missouri teens who have not obtained consent, said Dr. Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of the Ƶ Region and Southwest Missouri.
Kraft Sheley said the law also limits what her volunteer group can do to help pregnant teens wanting an abortion.
“It’s been used to chill organized help for young people,” she said. “It does constrain our work.”
Missouri data shows nearly 4,000 children and teens ages 19 and younger either had a baby, stillbirth or an abortion in 2020, though not all out-of-state abortions are being counted.
While Missouri laws are increasingly restrictive, Illinois lawmakers have made it even easier for adolescents to end their pregnancies by dropping the requirement on June 1 that patients younger than 18 notify an adult family member before getting an abortion.
McNicholas said the Illinois law was an important step. While most adolescents have a supportive adult helping them through the procedure, others face severe consequences if they tell family members, she said.
they fear abuse, being kicked out of the home, cut off financially or being forced to continue a pregnancy against their will.
“We have known for a long time that parental notification or parental consent laws really are a burden and potentially pose a risk to teens,” McNicholas said.
McNicholas said the logistics center staff is evaluating statutes in each of the states from which they could potentially see patients.
“We fully intend to comply with the laws,” McNicholas said. “We are in the process of trying to figure out: Does any other state have laws like this one in Missouri that could impact the work of the Regional Logistics Center in helping folks get care?”
A client navigator with another abortion assistance organization, , was vague when asked whether she is restricted in helping Missouri teens.
Alison Dreith would only say she helps young people in Missouri and follows Illinois law. Most often, she works directly with a parent or guardian.
She said no one has ever been sued under the law that she knows of.
“It’s legally gray and has no precedent. The interpretation of it depends on the lawyer and what they think ...,” Dreith said. “It’s up to us who do the work to make decisions for what our risk tolerance is.”
Judicial bypass
For Missouri teens afraid or unable to get parental consent, judicial bypass is an option, but one rife with barriers, as demonstrated in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Missouri on behalf of girl who became pregnant in December 2018, when she was 17.
The teen went to the Randolph County Courthouse to apply for a judicial bypass, but an employee in the clerk’s office said she hadn’t heard of the process and told the teen to come back later.
The teen returned twice and was told by the clerk over the phone that “our judge requires that the parents be notified of the hearing on this,” according to court records. The teen eventually traveled to Illinois, where she obtained a judicial bypass and had an abortion.
She sued, and in April, with a lower court’s ruling that a Randolph County court clerk could not seek immunity under the law and refuse to help the girl.
“Sadly, this is not the first time a low-level official has tried to impose their will and beliefs,” said local ACLU’s executive director Luz María Henríquez after the ruling.
Mallory Schwarz, director of , an organization that has fought for abortion access since 1969, said barriers to judicial bypass are pervasive across the state.
Her organization partnered with Washington University students in 2019 and 2020 to call every county court system in Missouri and found not one provided accurate information about how to go through the process.
Court staff often failed to inform the callers that legal representation is provided at no cost.
“This exception or mitigating solution that the state has in place is completely ineffective and is broadly unavailable,” Schwarz said.
She called the judicial bypass process patriarchal.
“It’s also completely outrageous to suggest that at a teenager needs a judge to make a decision for them on whether they are mature enough to get an abortion when they are having to be mature enough to become the parent of an infant,” she said.
‘Right by You’
Because of the difficulty that teens encounter when they try to navigate their pregnancies in Missouri, Kraft Sheley decided to launch a volunteer-staffed text line, .
Teens can text 855-458-0886 anonymously to get information about abortion laws and requirements in various states, support services available in their community should they decide to parent, and reputable adoption agencies that operate without coercion, Kraft Sheley said.
“We are very happy to help you find an abortion, but if you are curious about parenting and need medically accurate and legally accurate information if you choose to parent or put a baby up for adoption, we can help navigate those choices,” she said.
Kraft Sheley, who worked as a judicial bypass attorney in Illinois, said many of her clients told her they had no other choice but abortion, yet they knew little about their options.
“It troubled me that young people were always thinking this would be the absolute end of my life if the pregnancy continues, because for some, it isn’t. They go on to have great lives,” she said.
Many teens text questions about how to get birth control, Kraft Sheley said. She’s often sharing how is available at 33 Title X clinics across Missouri. The clinics also guarantee confidentiality.
Whatever plan a pregnant teen chooses, she said, volunteers continue to help address any problems that come up. They will also make calls on teens’ behalf.
“A huge part of our philosophy and the time we spend is validation and compassion and just making sure there is an adult in the young person’s life that is listening to their experiences, whatever they are going through physically and emotionally,” she said.
Kraft Sheley said the lifelong impact of pregnancy and birth for young people is not being highlighted enough when talking about access to abortion or other support services.
“I think the vulnerabilities that they live under by the virtue of just being minors and not having full control over many aspects of their lives, in addition to barriers around access,” she said, “makes it even more important when thinking about resources and creating policies, and how that’s going to affect teens specifically.”
Posted at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 12.