Abstract

PIP: This document compares the legal aspects of induced abortion in the US and Germany with a focus on how each country treats minors who wish to undergo abortion. After a short introduction, the second section describes the legal approach to abortion in the US where women (including minors) have an implicitly recognized constitutional right to abortion until compelling state interest intervenes at a point where the unborn child would be viable outside of the womb. States, however, may permit parents to participate in their daughter's abortion decisions as long as a "judicial bypass procedure" exists to protect the minor's rights. Section 3 describes the situation in Germany, where no constitutional right to abortion exists and where the fetus is protected by the constitution. A minor's right to abortion is determined by the provisions governing whether or not an abortion can be performed, by age limitations, and by the custody rights of the parents. Relevant decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court in 1975 and 1993 are reviewed to show that women have a duty to carry a pregnancy to term unless the woman requests the abortion within 12 weeks of conception and submits to counseling which seeks to protect the fetus (such an abortion would be illegal but immune from prosecution). German court rulings on the competency of minors to render consent are then noted to show that even minors have ultimate responsibility with regard to abortion. Analysis of the legal situation in Germany continues with a look at the personal custody rights of parents and the limitations on those rights imposed by the constitutional rights of the child, by the child's age, and by the child's self-reliance and capacity to assume responsibility. The conclusion contrasts the US and German legal sources of limitation of parental rights over the decisions of minors and the ways each system determines the competency of a minor to make such a decision.