What Are a Pregnant Teen's Rights

My question involves juvenile law in the State of: Arkansas

16 year old approx. 12 weeks pregnant. Mom wants her to have an abortion 16 year old doesn't want an abortion and doesn't want to give baby up for adoption.
I know that she has the right to choose based on medical emancipation. 16 year old wants to move in with boyfriend and his family due to support she has there and not a home. Mom won't let her use insurance-says "our insurance doesn't pay for that" (not information I would know.)

What rights does this 16 year have? Can she move out of mom's house?

Quote:

---

Quoting kcnewman

---

My question involves juvenile law in the State of: Arkansas

16 year old approx. 12 weeks pregnant. Mom wants her to have an abortion 16 year old doesn't want an abortion and doesn't want to give baby up for adoption.
I know that she has the right to choose based on medical emancipation. 16 year old wants to move in with boyfriend and his family due to support she has there and not a home. Mom won't let her use insurance-says "our insurance doesn't pay for that" (not information I would know.)

What rights does this 16 year have? Can she move out of mom's house?

---

Well no one can make her have an abortion. At 12 weeks - most places will not do an abortion at or after that point in a lot of states. Here is what Arkansas says on abortion and specifically minors who are pregnant:

"Individual seeking abortion must submit to state-directed counseling about the pros and cons of the procedure, and then wait 24 hours before receiving the abortion."

If minor or incompetent, written notice to parent or guardian required at least 48 hours before procedure, except by court order, medical emergency, upon declaration of child abuse, neglect, incest, parents' whereabouts unknown, or parent and minor have not been in contact for at least 1 yr.; informed consent of mother required (§20-16-903)"

No one can make her give the child up for adoption once it is born.

There is no such thing as a medical emancipation. Not when I search Arkansas emancipation. There are certain rights minors have to medical consent: http://www.ndaa.org/pdf/Minor%20Cons...ment%20(2).pdf

This is the law on Arkansas emancipation: http://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas...ter-3/9-27-362

This says you have to be 17. Not sure if the law was updated.

https://www.arlegalservices.org/file...tionPacket.pdf

https://www.arlegalservices.org/file...ancipation.pdf

Just because you file for emancipation - or the teen - does not mean she will get it. I'm not sure about the insurance. If she is under mother's insurance she should be able to get prenatal care. But we don't know what her mom's insurance policy allows.

She can move out - and her mom can make her move back in. There are 100 emancipation threads on here. Go have her read those.

Also - getting pregnant doesn't automatically make you an adult or responsible. In fact - getting pregnant as a teenager or even as an adult through unprotected sex is pretty irresponsible.

Excellent post, quaspolk; if there's something you haven't covered I can't see it :)

Quote:

---

Quoting Dogmatique

---

Excellent post, quaspolk; if there's something you haven't covered I can't see it :)

---

I just want to emphasize: She won't be living with her boyfriend and his family unless her mother approves of her doing it.

Quote:

---

Quoting Dogmatique

---

Excellent post, quaspolk; if there's something you haven't covered I can't see it :)

---

I wish there was a "like" or "thanks" button...

The baby should be eligible for Medicaid. If her mother has her on her insurance and her insurance covers maternity, that might make her ineligible for Medicaid, but not the baby. Some insurance programs also cover grandchildren under certain circumstances. If the grandmothers insuranxe does, that might make the baby ineligible for Medicaid. Or Medicaid might be the secondary insurance.

She is 16. She is NOT legally emancipated.

She cannot be forced to have an abortion and she cannot be forced to put the child up for adoption. She does NOT have the right to move out of Mom's house unless Mom says she may. She does not live anywhere that Mom does not give her permission to live. She is still a minor; she does not do anything but breathe unless Mom says so. Being pregnant does not give her any more rights over herself than a non-pregnant teen has.

However, she does have the right to pay for the baby. She has all the rights there are as far as the baby is concerned. Mom has no legal obligation to pay one single penny for the grandchild's support. She does not have to put the baby on her insurance and in fact may not even be allowed to - my employer is one of the most generous I've seen in 35 years of working in employer benefits, and we wouldn't cover the grandchild unless MOM was the court ordered guardian. Mom does not have to pay one single penny for the baby's food and clothes and medical care. The pregnant 16 year old has the right to pay all those bills on behalf of the baby she created. And until a court says otherwise, her BF isn't responsible for a penny of it either.

So, now tell us; just who are you in this scenario?

Since the boyfriend cares so much and offers support, he can have one of his parents start a bank account for the baby for things the baby will need like clothes, food,furnitire, etc. If the boyfriend doesn't have a job, he can get one. Mom can get a job after the baby is born. Mom and dad can go to school and work and pay for child care for their child and for things every child needs. After the child is born, Mom can take dad to court for court ordered child support. Mom does need to realize child support is not something she can depend on to raise her child. She will have to be trained for a better job when or before she finishes high school.

Quote:

---

Quoting cbg

---

She is 16. She is NOT legally emancipated.

She cannot be forced to have an abortion and she cannot be forced to put the child up for adoption. She does NOT have the right to move out of Mom's house unless Mom says she may. She does not live anywhere that Mom does not give her permission to live. She is still a minor; she does not do anything but breathe unless Mom says so. Being pregnant does not give her any more rights over herself than a non-pregnant teen has.

However, she does have the right to pay for the baby. She has all the rights there are as far as the baby is concerned. Mom has no legal obligation to pay one single penny for the grandchild's support. She does not have to put the baby on her insurance and in fact may not even be allowed to - my employer is one of the most generous I've seen in 35 years of working in employer benefits, and we wouldn't cover the grandchild unless MOM was the court ordered guardian. Mom does not have to pay one single penny for the baby's food and clothes and medical care. The pregnant 16 year old has the right to pay all those bills on behalf of the baby she created. And until a court says otherwise, her BF isn't responsible for a penny of it either.

So, now tell us; just who are you in this scenario?

---

I am going to disagree with you just a bit.

Medical emancipation in regards to the pregnancy is different than regular emancipation. For the purposes of the pregnancy a 16 year old would be able to make her own medical decisions, whereas otherwise she would not be able to do so.

Also, any adult living in a household with a child has some legal responsibility to ensure that the child is not neglected...particularly where food is concerned. If a child is living in grandma's house with mom as well, and the child dies of starvation, grandma is going to be held equally liable as mom. I understand why you said what you said, but if someone else reading the thread actually believed and acted on that that it could cause them untold harm...even if the child in question was just a roommate's child.

I said she is not LEGALLY emancipated. And she's not. I never said a word about medical emancipation. And I went on to point out that she does have control over her own body and the baby. So what is it that you're disagreeing with here?

Mom has LEGAL responsibility for HER child. It's the 16 year old mother who has LEGAL responsibility for her own child. I am trying to get across to this child (I suspect the OP is either the 16 year old herself or is the boyfriend) that she can't pass the financial responsibility off to anyone else while she goes off and plays house with her boyfriend. Mom isn't obligated (and very likely isn't able to) put the grandchild on her insurance. She has to provide medical care and food and clothing and shelter for her OWN child, yes. But she's not legally obligated to support her grandchild. Nice job giving the kid the idea that she does, there, L. Much better that we undermine what is certainly Mom's attempt to knock some sense into the kid by letting her know how HARD it's going to be raising a baby at 16, on the off chance that maybe sometime someone will read my post and use it to justify letting a child starve to death. Somehow I think CPS would step in long before that. Or even that teenage Mom would be on the board here complaining that her mother wasn't paying for her kid.

I know your heart bleeds every hour on the hour for every sob story we see here, but I stand by my post.