Jane’s Due Process is a Texas-based group that provides legal help for teenage girls in the state seeking to legally get an abortion without getting their parent’s permission using an exception in the Texas parental consent law.

Background

Jane’s Due Process is a Texas based organization dedicated to helping teenage girls get abortions through an exception to the state’s parental consent law. The group has a 24/7 legal hotline and lawyer referral service for minor teens to confidentially get advice for legally getting an abortion in the state without their parent’s consent. ¹

The state of Texas requires parental consent for a girl under the age of 18 to abort her unborn child. However, the state has a “judicial bypass” provision, allowing a state judge to determine if there are extraordinary circumstances, such as incest, neglect, sexual abuse, or sexual assault. ²

The organization draws its name because minors that apply for judicial bypass in Texas courts are called “Jane Does,” and are frequently referred to simply as “Janes” for short. ³

The group says a case can be made if a minor fears physical, emotional, or sexual abuse from a parent’s knowledge either of her pregnancy or of her plans to abort; is unable to locate a parent; a parent is unable to accompany her to the clinic; a parent is suffering from a mental illness; the minor is an orphan; or she will be kicked out of her home if a parent finds out she is pregnant. ⁴

The organization serves a fairly small portion, as about 90 percent pregnant minors in Texas tell their parents. Of the 2,175 abortions on teen girls in 2013, just 181 got legal help from Jane’s Due Process, according to the Christian Science Monitor. ⁵ During the years 2015 and 2016 there were 368 minors who sought judicial bypass to get an abortion, of whom 294 worked through Jane’s Due Process, according to Reuters. ⁶

In a high profile case in 2018, the group helped win a legal battle to secure an abortion for a 17-year-old Central American illegal immigrant girl who learned she was pregnant after he was in custody in Texas. After winning the case, the Jane’s Due Process raised money to pay for the abortion. ⁷

In addition to their phone hotline, the organization also established an app for text messages. To ensure text messages were secure and confidential, the organization contracted the Canadian company Smooch, which had previously developed a texting app called SextEd for teens to get confidential sex advice. Now the organization claims to receive more contacts from teen girls through text messaging than on the phone hotline. ⁸

The organization says it will by contrast also represent young mothers who do not want to terminate their unborn child even if parents or a boyfriend is pressuring them to abort. Further, the organization says it will provide legal assistance to teen girls that want to continue their education, but are being denied the right to do so because of a pregnancy. ⁹

Funding

A number of prominent pro-abortion left-wing foundations fund Jane’s Due Process. They include the Leland Fikes Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. ¹⁰

Leadership

Rosann Mariappuram is the executive director and longtime abortion activist. She is a lawyer and previously worked for the Center for Reproductive Rights and served on the board of Equity and NARAL Pro-Choice Texas. She also previously worked for Surge Reproductive Justice and Legal Voice in Seattle, Washington. ¹¹

Blake Rocap is the legal drector. He previously worked as a staffer in the Texas legislature for more than a decade. ¹²

Eleanor Genevieve Grano is the community outreach and youth engagement coordinator. She previously worked at the National Domestic Violence Hotline. ¹³

Nan Kirkpatrick is the development director for the organization. ¹⁴

Irma L. Garcia is the client services manager and previously worked at Austin Women’s Health Center as a patient advocate. ¹⁵

1. About. Jane’s Due Process. Accessed January 18, 2020. https://janesdueprocess.org/about/
2. About. Jane’s Due Process. Accessed January 18, 2020. https://janesdueprocess.org/about/
3. About. Jane’s Due Process. Accessed January 18, 2020. https://janesdueprocess.org/about/
4. About. Jane’s Due Process. Accessed January 18, 2020. https://janesdueprocess.org/about/
5. Richey, Warren. “In Texas, a Side of Abortion Debate That Few Ever See.” Christian Science Monitor. February 28, 2016. Accessed January 18, 2020. https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2016/0228/In-Texas-a-side-of-abortion-debate-few-ever-see
6. Crist, Carolyn. “Judicial Bypass Process for Abortion in Texas Causes Harm, Researchers Say.” Reuters. September 19, 2018. Accessed January 18, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-teens-abortion/judicial-bypass-process-for-abortion-in-texas-causes-harm-researchers-say-idUSKCN1LZ2BB
7. Goldberg, Michelle. “The Handmaid’s Court.” The New York Times. September 10, 2018. Accessed January 18, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/10/opinion/columnists/kavanaugh-abortion-roe-v-wade-trump.html
8. Locker, Melissa. “Texas Teens Can Now Use a Texting App to Message for Birth Control.” Fast Company. February 20, 2019. Access January 18, 2020. https://www.fastcompany.com/90309998/texas-teens-can-now-use-a-texting-app-to-message-for-birth-control
9. About. Jane’s Due Process. Accessed January 18, 2020. https://janesdueprocess.org/about/
10. Data compiled by FoundationSearch.com subscription service, a project of Metasoft Systems, Inc., from forms filed with the IRS. Queries conducted January 24, 2020.
11. Staff. Jane’s Due Process. Accessed January 18, 2020. https://janesdueprocess.org/about/staff/
12. Staff. Jane’s Due Process. Accessed January 18, 2020. https://janesdueprocess.org/about/staff/
13. Staff. Jane’s Due Process. Accessed January 18, 2020. https://janesdueprocess.org/about/staff/
14. Staff. Jane’s Due Process. Accessed January 18, 2020. https://janesdueprocess.org/about/staff/
15. Staff. Jane’s Due Process. Accessed January 18, 2020. https://janesdueprocess.org/about/staff/