Judging maturity in the courts: the Massachusetts consent statute

This study examined the Case Summary Questionnaires completed by attorneys representing minors at judicial consent for abortion hearings in Massachusetts and filed with the Women's Bar Association. The 477 Case Summaries filed between December 1981 and June 1985 were analyzed to provide a more systematic account of how the judicial consent statute is applied in the courtroom. After hearings which typically lasted 12 minutes, only nine minors were judged immature. No evidence for a discernible pattern justifying these rulings emerged from an examination of petitioner and court characteristics such as age, length of hearing, number of weeks pregnant, or presiding judge. Further, 11 lawyers privately reported they found their clients immature. In only one instance, however, did the lawyer and judge identify the same adolescent. The findings add to a growing body or research that calls into question the ability of the consent statute to protect the best interest of the minors involved.