Consent of parent or legal guardian or custodian; notification; waiver of consent or notification; representation by attorney; confidentiality; emergency abortions; medical records; penalties
Ind. Code § 16-34-2-4
in effectSec. 4. (a) This section does not apply to a minor who is less than eighteen (18) years of age who is pregnant as a result of rape or incest by a parent, legal guardian, or custodian of the unemancipated minor.
(b) No physician shall perform an abortion on an unemancipated pregnant minor less than eighteen (18) years of age without first having obtained from one (1) of the parents, a legal guardian, or a custodian accompanying the unemancipated pregnant minor:
(1) the notarized written consent of the parent, legal guardian, or custodian of the unemancipated pregnant minor;
(2) government issued proof of identification of the parent or the legal guardian or custodian of the unemancipated pregnant minor; and
(3) some evidence, which may include identification or other written documentation that provides an articulable basis for a reasonably prudent person to believe that the person is the parent or legal guardian or custodian of the unemancipated pregnant minor.
The physician shall keep records of the documents required under this subsection in the unemancipated pregnant minor's medical file for at least seven (7) years.
(c) A minor:
(1) who objects to having to obtain the written consent of her parent or legal guardian or custodian under this section; or
(2) whose parent or legal guardian or custodian refuses to consent to an abortion;
may petition, on her own behalf or by next friend, the juvenile court in the county in which the pregnant minor resides or in which the abortion is to be performed, for a waiver of the parental consent requirement under subsection (b) and the parental notification requirement under subsection (e). A next friend may not be a physician or provider of abortion services, representative of the physician or provider, or other person that may receive a direct financial benefit from the performance of an abortion.
(d) A physician who feels that compliance with the parental consent requirement in subsection (b) would have an adverse effect on the welfare of the pregnant minor or on her pregnancy may petition the juvenile court within twenty-four (24) hours of the abortion request for a waiver of the parental consent requirement under subsection (b) and the parental notification requirement under subsection (e).
(e) Unless the juvenile court finds that it is in the best interests of an unemancipated pregnant minor to obtain an abortion without parental notification following a hearing on a petition filed under subsection (c) or (d), a parent, legal guardian, or custodian of a pregnant unemancipated minor is entitled to receive notice of the emancipated minor's intent to obtain an abortion before the abortion is performed on the unemancipated pregnant minor. The attorney representing the unemancipated pregnant minor shall serve the notice required by this subsection by certified mail or by personal service and provide the court with documentation of the attorney's good faith effort to serve the notice, including any return receipt for a certified mailing. The court shall retain the documentation provided in the confidential records of the waiver proceedings held under this section.
(f) The juvenile court must rule on a petition filed by a pregnant minor under subsection (c) or by her physician under subsection (d) within forty-eight (48) hours of the filing of the petition. Before ruling on the petition, the court shall consider the concerns expressed by the pregnant minor and her physician. The requirement of parental consent under this section shall be waived by the juvenile court if the court finds that the minor is mature enough to make the abortion decision independently or that an abortion would be in the minor's best interests. The juvenile court shall waive the requirement of parental notification under subsection (e) if the court finds that obtaining an abortion without parental notification is in the best interests of the unemancipated pregnant minor. If the juvenile court does not find that obtaining an abortion without parental notification is in the best interests of the unemancipated pregnant minor, the court shall, subject to an appeal under subsection (h), order the attorney representing the unemancipated pregnant minor to serve the notice required under subsection (e).
(g) Unless the juvenile court finds that the pregnant minor is already represented by an attorney, the juvenile court shall appoint an attorney to represent the pregnant minor in a waiver proceeding brought by the minor under subsection (c) and on any appeals. The cost of legal representation appointed for the minor under this section shall be paid by the county.
(h) A minor or the minor's physician who desires to appeal an adverse judgment of the juvenile court in a waiver proceeding under subsection (c) or (d) is entitled to an expedited appeal, under rules to be adopted by the supreme court.
(i) All records of the juvenile court and of the supreme court or the court of appeals that are made as a result of proceedings conducted under this section are confidential.
(j) A minor who initiates legal proceedings under this section is exempt from the payment of filing fees.
(k) This section does not apply where there is an emergency need for a medical procedure to be performed to avert the pregnant minor's death or a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant minor, and the attending physician certifies this in writing.
(l) A physician receiving parental consent under subsection (b) shall execute an affidavit for inclusion in the unemancipated pregnant minor's medical record. The affidavit must contain the following information:
(1) The physician's name.
(2) Certification that, to the physician's best information and belief, a reasonable person under similar circumstances would rely on the information provided by the unemancipated pregnant minor and the unemancipated pregnant minor's parent or legal guardian or custodian as sufficient evidence of identity and relationship.
(3) The physician's signature.
(m) A person who, with intent to avoid the parental notification requirements described in subsection (b), falsely claims to be the parent or legal guardian or custodian of an unemancipated pregnant minor by:
(1) making a material misstatement while purportedly providing the written consent described in subsection (b)(1); or
(2) providing false or fraudulent identification to meet the requirement described in subsection (b)(2);
commits a Level 6 felony.
[Pre-1993 Recodification Citation: 35-1-58.5-2.5.]
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.17. Amended by P.L.193-2011, SEC.13; P.L.173-2017, SEC.4; P.L.218-2021, SEC.6; P.L.179-2022(ss), SEC.24.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/16Fetched: 10/17/2026