Ex Parte Anonymous

In 1987 the Alabama Legislature essentially codified the abortion rights of minors articulated in Bellotti v. Baird, 443 U.S. 622 (1979). §§ 26-21-1 et seq., Ala. Code 1975. As judges bound by an oath to support, inter alia, the laws of the State of Alabama, we must apply those laws, regardless of our personal views as to the wisdom or soundness of the constitutional doctrine articulated by the United States Supreme Court.

Parental consent to an abortion may be waived, according to the statute, when the trial court finds either that the minor is mature and well-informed enough to make such a…