News Archive

Thirty-seven states in the United States require parental notice or consent for a minor to have an abortion, but experiences vary widely among for adolescents who, for many reasons, want to petition a judge to bypass that notification requirement.

That’s according to Rachel Rebouché, Associate Dean for Research, Professor of Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law, who spoke on November 7 as part of the Grand Rounds lecture series sponsored by the Hall Center for Law and Health at the IU McKinney School of Law.

Professor Rebouché is a co-investigator for a project at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University that is investigating confidentiality and parental involvement processes for minors seeking reproductive health services.

While her research project is focused on southeastern states, Professor Rebouché noted that the Seventh Circuit recently upheld a preliminary injunction against an Indiana law that would require a judge to notify the parents of minors seeking an abortion, even if the judge approves her petition for judicial bypass and authorizes her abortion.

 “It’s a complicated field,” she acknowledged. Through the research project, Professor Rebouché and her co-investigators hope to learn more about the health effects and consequences of parental involvement laws on the women impacted.

Professor Rebouché teaches contracts, family law, and health care law. Her recent research includes articles on prenatal genetic testing, abortion law reform, and collaborative divorce. She is the co-author of Governance Feminism: An Introduction and is currently completing a book on reproductive justice. She has J.D. from Harvard Law School, an LL.M. from Queen’s University Belfast and a B.A. from Trinity University.