It's just a different duck and quite frankly I hope it goes away. But I don't think it will. In the high court's Feb. 25 decision in In Re Jane Doe , which Peddie appealed, her client sought a judicial bypass of the notification law partly because her parents opposed abortion. The trial court and the appellate court did not grant her client relief. For example, Peddie says there is no valid science on the emotional impact of abortion and questions whether a court should include that as a standard in its judgment.
Abortion opponents are adamant that there is a scientific link.
Peddie is part of a group of lawyers in Houston trained to handle such cases and get referrals from Planned Parenthood. Yet Peddie was nevertheless surprised by some aspects of the notification process at the trial court level. The law allows a judge to also appoint an attorney ad litem to serve as a guardian ad litem for the minor, Peddie says. But that's never happened in the cases she's aware of in Houston. And that has come as a surprise.