Where was DCF before 13-year-old got pregnant?

The Florida Department of Children and Families says that a pregnant 13-year-old in its care is too immature to have an abortion but is mature enough to have a baby. The agency hopes such illogic will persuade the 4th District Court of Appeal to force the teen identified as L.G. to carry the pregnancy to term. As L.G.'s "parent," the state has no legal right to force her to continue a pregnancy she does not want and deliver a child she has no means to support. What the state had was an obligation, which it did not fulfill, to care about L.G. when she was a runaway three months ago.

If irresponsible behavior led to L.G.'s pregnancy, the girl has acted responsibly since learning two weeks ago during a doctor's appointment that she is pregnant. She told her caseworker that she wanted to end the pregnancy. The caseworker took her to a women's health clinic for an ultrasound and two counseling sessions. She met with a court psychologist, who determined that she does not have a mental disorder. She told Palm Beach County Juvenile Court Judge Ronald Alvarez on Thursday that she does not want a baby, and that, at only 13, she cannot get a job to support a child.

DCF's actions, on the other hand, have been inexcusable. The agency that did not care enough about L.G. even to report to the court and police that she had run away from a state home has returned to an ideology it cares about. During the month L.G. was on the streets without DCF's concern, she got pregnant. On Tuesday, when L.G. was scheduled to have an abortion, DCF canceled the appointment and rushed into court to try to prevent the abortion from ever happening.

Judge Alvarez was justifiably outraged at DCF for failing to do more for L.G. before she got pregnant. The 4th DCA will determine whether Judge Alvarez has the authority to rule in the case, or whether any court or state involvement violates L.G.'s constitutional right to choose. Even proposed changes to Florida law would not give parents permission to block their child's abortion, only a right to know about it.

Continued delays will make it more risky for L.G. to end the pregnancy. But at L.G.'s age and state of pregnancy, childbirth poses a greater physical risk, a retired obstetrician/gynecologist pointed out in testimony, than abortion.

DCF's interest in the unborn over the uncared-for in its custody is reminiscent of the agency's politically motivated intervention in the 2003 case of a severely retarded woman who had been raped in a state group home. In the case of J.D.S., Gov. Bush asked the court to let the state appoint a guardian for the fetus -- an effort the courts rejected as unconstitutional. Then as now, the best way for DCF to stop children in its care from having abortions is to keep them safe from getting pregnant in the first place.