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August 22, 2017      1:00 PM

Adversaries in abortion debate meet in the middle on judicial bypass tweak

Protecting the anonymity of minors “needed to be assured” and nothing in the bill would allow anyone outside the court system to pinpoint the particular judge or child, although some worry about recording a date of birth

Editor’s note: The original version of this story did not identify the author of the bill as Rep. Jim Murphy, R-Houston. We’ve updated the story to reflect his work on the issue – SB

The final result of the special session’s judicial bypass bill for minors is a tentative compromise between the two sides of the abortion debate, neither of which necessarily trusts the other.

The US Supreme Court has decided a child who finds herself pregnant can bypass parental permission by seeking a judicial bypass through the courts. Two years ago, lawmakers reformed the judicial bypass process in House Bill 3994, requiring verification of age by doctors, giving judges more tools and time for decisions and requiring the court clerk to retain records.

By Kimberly Reeves

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