Alabama Code Title 26. Infants and Incompetents § 26-21-4

Alabama Code § 26-21-4 establishes the state’s judicial bypass procedure, permitting a pregnant minor to seek court authorization for an abortion without parental consent. Enacted in 1987, the statute originally required a confidential, ex parte hearing attended only by the minor, their counsel, and the presiding judge. In 2014, House Bill 494 amended the law to allow additional participants, including the district attorney, the minor’s parents, and a guardian ad litem for the fetus, to appear and cross-examine the minor, and it required the court to notify those parties of the proceedings. These changes substantially altered the confidentiality and neutrality of the judicial bypass process. In Reproductive Health Services v. Marshall, 268 F. Supp. 3d 1261 (M.D. Ala. 2017), the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama held that the 2014 amendments violated minors’ due process and privacy rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court severed the unconstitutional provisions, restoring the judicial bypass procedure to its original ex parte form. Section 26-21-4 remains in effect as amended by the Court’s ruling.