Yates S, Pliner A J
Psychology Department, Lehman College, City University of New York, Bronx 10468.
Am J Public Health. 1988 Jun;78(6):646-9. doi: 10.2105/ajph.78.6.646.
This study examined the Case Summary Questionnaires completed by attorneys representing minors at judicial consent for abortion hearings in Massachusetts and filed with the Women's Bar Association. The 477 Case Summaries filed between December 1981 and June 1985 were analyzed to provide a more systematic account of how the judicial consent statute is applied in the courtroom. After hearings which typically lasted 12 minutes, only nine minors were judged immature. No evidence for a discernible pattern justifying these rulings emerged from an examination of petitioner and court characteristics such as age, length of hearing, number of weeks pregnant, or presiding judge. Further, 11 lawyers privately reported they found their clients immature. In only one instance, however, did the lawyer and judge identify the same adolescent. The findings add to a growing body or research that calls into question the ability of the consent statute to protect the best interest of the minors involved.
本研究审查了由代表未成年人的律师在马萨诸塞州堕胎司法同意听证会上填写并提交给妇女律师协会的案件摘要问卷。对1981年12月至1985年6月期间提交的477份案件摘要进行了分析，以便更系统地说明司法同意法规在法庭上是如何应用的。在通常持续12分钟的听证会后，只有9名未成年人被判定为不成熟。通过审查请愿人和法庭的特征，如年龄、听证时长、怀孕周数或主审法官，没有发现可辨别的模式来证明这些裁决的合理性。此外，11名律师私下报告称，他们发现自己的客户不成熟。然而，只有一次，律师和法官认定的是同一名青少年。这些发现进一步增加了越来越多的研究，这些研究对同意法规保护相关未成年人最佳利益的能力提出了质疑。
