Girls on the Stand

"The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that states may require parental involvement in the abortion decisions of pregnant minors as long as minors have the opportunity to petition for a "bypass" of parental involvement. To date, virtually all of the 34 states that mandate parental involvement have put judges in charge of the bypass process. Individual judges are thereby responsible for deciding whether or not the minor has a legitimate basis to seek an abortion absent parental participation. In this revealing and disturbing book, Helena Silverstein presents a detailed picture of how the bypass process actually functions." "Girls on the Stand convincingly demonstrates that safeguards promised by parental involvement laws are often ineffective and that a legal process designed to help young women make informed decisions instead victimizes them. In making this case, the book casts doubt not only on the structure of parental involvement mandates but also on the naive faith in the law that sustains them. Girls on the Stand contributes to a growing body of work aimed at debunking the popular myth that, in the land of the free, there is equal justice for all."--Jacket.