The Law in Rhode Island Pertaining to Minors’ Access to
Abortion
If a minor under the age of 18 wishes to obtain an
abortion in Rhode Island, she must obtain consent from one parent or legal
guardian. A minor may obtain an abortion without parental consent if she
is emancipated or if she obtains a court order exempting her from the
requirement.
Rhode Island’s law is considered a “parental involvement law” under
CCPA’s definition because it requires consent from one parent and does not
allow consent to be obtained from any other person, such as a grandmother
or an aunt. Therefore, CCPA would require Rhode Island minors to comply
with Rhode Island law in other states if minors wanted to protect trusted
relatives or friends who accompany them to out-of-state abortion providers
from the possibility of a federal criminal prosecution.
The Effect of CCPA on Rhode Island Resident
Minors
Rhode Island minors seeking abortions in Rhode Island
will have to comply – as they currently do – with the Rhode Island forced
parental involvement law.
Rhode Island minors who are accompanied by a trusted relative or friend
to an out-of-state abortion provider must comply with the forced parental
involvement law of the state to which she travels, if there is such a law.
CCPA adds an additional burden: the minor must also comply with the law of
Rhode Island, her home state. The out-of-state abortion provider,
therefore, must be familiar with Rhode Island law, as well as the laws of
every state in the nation which are as strict as CCPA or risk criminal
liability as a conspirator, accomplice or accessory. In addition, if the
minor fails to comply with the laws of both states, the minor’s companion
risks criminal and civil penalties under CCPA.
For example, a minor from Rhode Island may want to be close to family
in Mississippi when she obtains an abortion. If the minor travels to
Mississippi alone, she must comply with Mississippi’s forced parental
involvement law but not Rhode Island’s law. However, if she travels to
Mississippi with a trusted relative, she must comply with the laws in both
states. Therefore, if the minor seeks an exemption from the laws, she must
obtain orders from courts in both states. If she chooses to involve her
parents, she must obtain written consent from one parent in order to
comply with Rhode Island law and obtain written consent from both parents
in order to comply with Mississippi law.
The Effect of CCPA on Rhode Island Providers
Under
CCPA, Rhode Island health care providers who know that a minor has been
transported across state lines by a non-parent would be at risk from a
number of complex provisions regarding conspiracy, accomplice and
accessory liability. In order to avoid liability, a Rhode Island provider
would have to determine whether the minor seeking an abortion is from
another state; whether she was accompanied across state lines by a
non-parent; whether, under CCPA, she is required to comply with the forced
parental involvement law of her home state and, if so, whether she did. If
a Rhode Island provider determines a violation of another state’s law
exists, the provider would be forced to deny services to the minor and
report the accompanying person to the authorities or risk liability
himself.
Therefore, Rhode Island health care providers would need to be familiar
with, and be ready to comply with, the laws of all fifty states and the
District of Columbia before proceeding with an abortion.
R.I. GEN. LAWS § 23-4.7-6 (2000)
MISS. CODE ANN. §
41-41-51, et seq. (2001)
