82R5791 MAW-F
By: King of Parker H.B. No. 1078
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the appointment of a guardian ad litem and attorney ad
litem for a minor in an application for a court order authorizing
the minor to consent to an abortion.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 33.003(e) and (i), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(e) The court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for the
minor. If the minor has not retained an attorney, the court shall
appoint an attorney to represent the minor. The [If the guardian ad
litem is an attorney admitted to the practice of law in this state,
the] court may not appoint the guardian ad litem to serve as the
minor's attorney. The court may not appoint the minor's attorney to
be the guardian ad litem for the minor.
(i) The court shall determine by a preponderance of the
evidence whether the minor is mature and sufficiently well informed
to make the decision to have an abortion performed without
notification to either of her parents or a managing conservator or
guardian, whether notification would not be in the best interest of
the minor, and [or] whether notification may lead to physical,
sexual, or emotional abuse of the minor. If the court finds that
the minor is mature and sufficiently well informed, that
notification would not be in the minor's best interest, and [or]
that notification may lead to physical, sexual, or emotional abuse
of the minor, the court shall enter an order authorizing the minor
to consent to the performance of the abortion without notification
to either of her parents or a managing conservator or guardian and
shall execute the required forms.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an application for a court order authorizing a minor to consent
to an abortion filed under Section 33.003, Family Code, as amended
by this Act, on or after the effective date of this Act. An
application filed before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect at the time the application was filed, and that
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.