Youth Abortion Access - Judicial Bypass (you are here) | Know Your Youth Repro Rights | General Legal Access Program Info
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AFO’s Legal Access Program can help young folks with questions about their reproductive rights in Ohio! This page includes information on getting help, resources, and a brief glossary. For more, check out this page, which has brief overview of youth reproductive rights.
If you’re looking for help with money and/or help with seeking an abortion, please contact us here.
We can help minors understand their rights around birth control and contraception, abortion access, and judicial bypass in Ohio. We also have free resources, training, and education focused on Reproductive Justice and our legal system. Young folks who would need help can call or text us at 614-799-2843 or using our online form (also available at the bottom of this page).
Please note: AFO’s Legal Access Program does not give money to help young folks afford a lawyer or afford bail if arrested for having an abortion or because someone thinks they had an abortion. However, we do help connect young folks to other organizations that may help them get the money they need or help with other things that AFO cannot help with.
Resources
Scarleteen: Sex Ed for the Real World
Trans LifeLine: Radical community care by & for trans & gender-non-conforming folks
Trevor Project: Support for LGBTQIA+ folks
Kaleidascope Youth Center: Queer & trans youth support in Central Ohio, with a focus on housing, health education, & drop-in support
Mosaic: Community-based support for trans, non-binary, & expansive youth (project of Equitas Health)
Sexual Assault Network of Central Ohio
Cleveland Rape Crisis Center: Provides counseling, advocacy, & support to survivors of sexual assault in Northeast Ohio
Safe Point: Provider of comprehensive harm-reduction services (project of Equitas Health)
Equitas Health: Healthcare provider focused on offering a variety of services for LGBTQIA+ folks.
Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence: Ohio's rape crisis coalition, providing support networks for survivors of sexual violence
All Options Pregnancy Resource Center: Provides non-judgmental counseling for pregnant folks who want help explore parenting, adoption, & abortion
ACLU Ohio - Your Health and the Law: A Guide for Teens: Comprehensive guide on young folks' rights in across lots of topics
If/When/How’s Judicial Bypass Wiki: Trusted & easy-to-follow resource on judicial bypass (minor's right to abortion)
Jane’s Due Process: Reproductive rights & health resources for teens; also an abortion fund in Texas
Repro Glossary
Minor: Anyone under 18 years old
Informed Consent: The ability to understand the risks, benefits and different choices you can make about health services described by a doctor. You cannot be pressured into giving Informed consent. It may be spoken or written, and should be written in your files at the doctor’s office.
Confidentiality: generally, personal information you share with a lawyer, doctor, therapist, or other medical professionals cannot be shared with other people without your permission. There are some exceptions to this to protect the health or safety of yourself or others.
Contraceptives: A way to try to prevent unwanted pregnancy, including condoms, cervical barriers, implants, patches, birth control pills, vaginal rings, birth control shots, the rhythm method, withdrawal, IUDs, and spermicides.
Emergency Contraceptives: A type of contraceptive medicine or device used after sexual contact to prevent pregnancy, including Plan B, the Morning After Pill, or the Copper IUD.
Judicial Bypass: A legal process for a minor to access abortion without their parent’s permission. In the 1979 case Bellotti v. Baird, the Supreme Court decided that states could require parental consent for minors seeking abortions, as long as those states also provided a way for minors to “bypass” (get around) that requirement by going to court and convincing a judge either that they are mature and well informed enough to make the decision to get an abortion or not, or if it is not in the minor’s best interest to tell the parents or guardians about the pregnancy and/or abortion.
Sexually Transmitted Infections: illness, infection and/or disease which is often or can be transmitted through sexual or other intimate contact, like HIV, Chlamydia or Herpes.
Age of Consent: The age at which a person is considered by law to be able to consent to sexual activity. Someone above this age who has sex with someone below it can often be charged with statutory rape, even if the younger person wants to consent.
Intake Form
Young folks who would need help can call or text us at 614-799-2843 or using our online form (also located below).