Vernon's Texas Rules Annotated - VTRA TX R PARENT NOT Form 1A . INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLYING TO THE COURT FOR A WAIVER OF PARENTAL NOTIFICATION AND CONSENT ()

Your situation and the law

An abortion in Texas is available only if a doctor, in the exercise of reasonable medical judgment, determines that you have a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from your pregnancy that places you at risk of death or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of one of your major bodily functions unless the abortion is performed or induced.

If you are younger than 18 and have not been legally “emancipated,” you are “unemancipated,” which means that you are legally under the custody or control of your parents (or one of your parents), a managing conservator, or a guardian. (A “managing conservator” is an adult or agency appointed by a court to have custody or control of you.)

If you are pregnant, unemancipated, and younger than 18, you cannot get an abortion in Texas unless:

• your doctor informs one of your parents or your managing conservator or guardian at least 48 hours before the abortion and obtains the consent of your parent, managing conservator, or guardian; or

• a judge issues an order that “waives” or removes the requirement that you must let a parent or your managing conservator or guardian know about your planned abortion and obtain his or her consent to it.

How to get a waiver of parental notification and consent

To get a court order waiving the requirements that you tell a parent or your managing conservator or guardian about your planned abortion and obtain his or her consent, you must complete Forms 2A and 2B, . Form 2A is the “Cover Page” for the Application; it requests basic information about why you are seeking the order. Form 2B is the “Verification Page,” which requests information about you.

On the Verification Page, you will be asked to tell the court how you may be contacted quickly and confidentially. It is very important that you provide this information because the court may later need to contact you about your application. If you cannot be contacted, your application will be denied. You may list a phone number, email address, or any other way that you can be contacted. You can but need not give your own number--instead, you can ask the court to contact you through someone who is helping you or acting on your behalf. You may also list a second person who may be contacted on your behalf.

You or someone acting on your behalf must deliver the forms to the clerk in the district court, county court at law, county court, or probate court to be filed. The court clerk can help you complete and file the application, and can help you get a hearing on your request. However, the clerk cannot give you legal advice or counsel you about abortion.

All of the information you put on the application is confidential. You do not have to pay a fee to file this application.

The court will tell you when to come to the courthouse for your “hearing.” In your hearing, you will meet with a judge to discuss your request. The court will hold your hearing within five days (not counting weekends and holidays) after you file your application.

After you file your application, the court will appoint a person to meet with you before the hearing and help the judge decide your application. The person is called a “guardian ad litem.” In your application you may ask the court to appoint someone you want to be your guardian ad litem (who can be a relative, clergy, counselor, psychiatrist or psychologist, or other adult), but the court is not required to appoint this person.

You must also have a lawyer with you at your hearing. You may hire your own lawyer, or you may ask the court to appoint one to represent you for free.

Your hearing will be confidential and private. The only persons allowed to be there are you, your guardian ad litem, your lawyer, court staff, and any person whom you request to be there.

You already know that your application stays confidential. So will everything from your hearing: all testimony, documents and other evidence presented to the court, and any order given by the judge. The court will keep everything sealed. No one else can inspect the evidence.

The court must “rule”--issue a decision on your application--before 5 p.m. on the fifth day after the day you filed your application, not counting weekends and holidays.

If the court fails to rule within that time, then your request is automatically denied. You can get a certificate from the court clerk that says that your request is “deemed denied.” If you choose to appeal, the certificate will be sent to the appellate court to explain what happened in your case.

If the court does rule within the required time, the court issues an order that does one of the following three things:

If the court denies your request, you may ask another court to hear your case. This request is called an “appeal,” and the new court will be the court of appeals.

To appeal the first court's decision, have your lawyer fill out Form 3A, . The lawyer must file it with the clerk of the court that denied your request for a waiver of parental notification.

You will not have to go to the court of appeals in person. Instead, the court of appeals will review the written record and will issue a written ruling on your appeal no later than 5 p.m. on the fifth day after the day you file the Notice of Appeal, not counting weekends and holidays.

The court of appeals will provide its ruling to you, your lawyer, your guardian ad litem, or any other person designated by you to receive the ruling.

The same guardian ad litem and lawyer who helped you with your first hearing can help with your appeal.

Forms 2A and 2B, the Cover Page and Verification Page to the Confidential Application for Waiver of Parental Notification, and Form 3A, Notice of Appeal in Parental Notification Proceeding, should all be attached to these instructions.

If these forms are not attached to these instructions, you can get them from the clerk of the district, county court at law, county, or probate court or from the clerk of the court of appeals. These forms are also available on the Texas Judiciary website at www.txcourts.gov.