Janet G. v. New York Foundling Hospital

OPINION OF THE COURT

Aileen H. Schwartz, J.

The real question in this case is whether the State may use the newly won constitutional rights of minors to relieve itself of all responsibility as parens patriae in dealing with minors who are parents. Not only does the issue pose novel considerations, but its import is of more than limited effect because the facts reveal a system gone amiss and, indeed, unprepared for the singular dilemma of teenage pregnancy in our time.

Janet. G., a 17-year-old minor, alone and unaware of her right of choice and ignorant of the nature and consequences of her…