(a)This section does not apply to a minor who
is less than eighteen (18) years of age who is pregnant as a result of
rape or incest by a parent, legal guardian, or custodian of the
unemancipated minor.
(b)No physician shall perform an abortion on an unemancipated
pregnant minor less than eighteen (18) years of age without first having
obtained from one (1) of the parents, a legal guardian, or a custodian
accompanying the unemancipated pregnant minor:
(1)the notarized written consent of the parent, legal guardian, or
custodian of the unemancipated pregnant minor;
(2)government issued proof of identification of the parent or the
legal guardian or custodian of the unemancipated pregnant minor;
and
(3)some evidence, which may include identification or other
written documentation that prov
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(a) This section does not apply to a minor who
is less than eighteen (18) years of age who is pregnant as a result of
rape or incest by a parent, legal guardian, or custodian of the
unemancipated minor.
(b) No physician shall perform an abortion on an unemancipated
pregnant minor less than eighteen (18) years of age without first having
obtained from one (1) of the parents, a legal guardian, or a custodian
accompanying the unemancipated pregnant minor:
(1) the notarized written consent of the parent, legal guardian, or
custodian of the unemancipated pregnant minor;
(2) government issued proof of identification of the parent or the
legal guardian or custodian of the unemancipated pregnant minor;
and
(3) some evidence, which may include identification or other
written documentation that provides an articulable basis for a
reasonably prudent person to believe that the person is the parent
or legal guardian or custodian of the unemancipated pregnant
minor.
The physician shall keep records of the documents required under this
subsection in the unemancipated pregnant minor's medical file for at
least seven (7) years.
(c) A minor:
(1) who objects to having to obtain the written consent of her
parent or legal guardian or custodian under this section; or
(2) whose parent or legal guardian or custodian refuses to consent
to an abortion;
may petition, on her own behalf or by next friend, the juvenile court in
the county in which the pregnant minor resides or in which the abortion
is to be performed, for a waiver of the parental consent requirement
under subsection (b) and the parental notification requirement under
subsection (e). A next friend may not be a physician or provider of
abortion services, representative of the physician or provider, or other
person that may receive a direct financial benefit from the performance
of an abortion.
(d) A physician who feels that compliance with the parental consent
requirement in subsection (b) would have an adverse effect on the
welfare of the pregnant minor or on her pregnancy may petition the
juvenile court within twenty-four (24) hours of the abortion request for
a waiver of the parental consent requirement under subsection (b) and
the parental notification requirement under subsection (e).
(e) Unless the juvenile court finds that it is in the best interests of an
unemancipated pregnant minor to obtain an abortion without parental
notification following a hearing on a petition filed under subsection (c)
or (d), a parent, legal guardian, or custodian of a pregnant
unemancipated minor is entitled to receive notice of the emancipated
minor's intent to obtain an abortion before the abortion is performed on
the unemancipated pregnant minor. The attorney representing the
unemancipated pregnant minor shall serve the notice required by this
subsection by certified mail or by personal service and provide the
court with documentation of the attorney's good faith effort to serve the
notice, including any return receipt for a certified mailing. The court
shall retain the documentation provided in the confidential records of
the waiver proceedings held under this section.
(f) The juvenile court must rule on a petition filed by a pregnant
minor under subsection (c) or by her physician under subsection (d)
within forty-eight (48) hours of the filing of the petition. Before ruling
on the petition, the court shall consider the concerns expressed by the
pregnant minor and her physician. The requirement of parental consent
under this section shall be waived by the juvenile court if the court
finds that the minor is mature enough to make the abortion decision
independently or that an abortion would be in the minor's best interests.
The juvenile court shall waive the requirement of parental notification
under subsection (e) if the court finds that obtaining an abortion
without parental notification is in the best interests of the
unemancipated pregnant minor. If the juvenile court does not find that
obtaining an abortion without parental notification is in the best
interests of the unemancipated pregnant minor, the court shall, subject
to an appeal under subsection (h), order the attorney representing the
unemancipated pregnant minor to serve the notice required under
subsection (e).
(g) Unless the juvenile court finds that the pregnant minor is already
represented by an attorney, the juvenile court shall appoint an attorney
to represent the pregnant minor in a waiver proceeding brought by the
minor under subsection (c) and on any appeals. The cost of legal
representation appointed for the minor under this section shall be paid
by the county.
(h) A minor or the minor's physician who desires to appeal an
adverse judgment of the juvenile court in a waiver proceeding under
subsection (c) or (d) is entitled to an expedited appeal, under rules to
be adopted by the supreme court.
(i) All records of the juvenile court and of the supreme court or the
court of appeals that are made as a result of proceedings conducted
under this section are confidential.
(j) A minor who initiates legal proceedings under this section is
exempt from the payment of filing fees.
(k) This section does not apply where there is an emergency need
for a medical procedure to be performed to avert the pregnant minor's
death or a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily
function of the pregnant minor, and the attending physician certifies
this in writing.
(l) A physician receiving parental consent under subsection (b) shall
execute an affidavit for inclusion in the unemancipated pregnant
minor's medical record. The affidavit must contain the following
information:
(1) The physician's name.
(2) Certification that, to the physician's best information and
belief, a reasonable person under similar circumstances would
rely on the information provided by the unemancipated pregnant
minor and the unemancipated pregnant minor's parent or legal
guardian or custodian as sufficient evidence of identity and
relationship.
(3) The physician's signature.
(m) A person who, with intent to avoid the parental notification
requirements described in subsection (b), falsely claims to be the
parent or legal guardian or custodian of an unemancipated pregnant
minor by:
(1) making a material misstatement while purportedly providing
the written consent described in subsection (b)(1); or
(2) providing false or fraudulent identification to meet the
requirement described in subsection (b)(2);
commits a Level 6 felony.
[Pre-1993 Recodification Citation: 35-1-58.5-2.5.]