Judgment, 9 February 1987.
The plaintiff was a sixteen-year-old girl who sought authorization from the Court for an abortion after her mother would not give consent, as required for minors by law. The Court held that the mother's withholding consent was not an abuse of her right to raise her daughter. It ruled that even if there could be an exception to this requirement of parental consent in the case of mature minors--an issue not decided here--the plaintiff did not fall within this category. It also concluded that the mother could refuse consent out of her own self-interest, since she was not obligated by law to give any reason, and that she could also refuse to care for her daughter, since the daughter would receive adequate care in a children's home.
D000028:Abortion, Induced; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D003710:Demography; D019049:Developed Countries; D005060:Europe; D005193:Family Planning Services; D005860:Germany, West; D007603:Jurisprudence; D011153:Population; D011154:Population Characteristics; D020458:Third-Party Consent
Abortion, Induced--legal aspects; Age Factors; Court Decision; Demographic Factors; Developed Countries; Europe; Family Planning; Fertility Control, Postconception; Germany, Federal Republic Of; Minors--legal aspects; Parental Consent--legal aspects; Population; Population Characteristics; Western Europe