Report: Abortions Granted to Arizona Minors Without Parental Consent in about 75% of Cases

Judges in Arizona granted permission for abortions without parental consent to nearly three out of every four minors who asked to have the procedure, according to new records obtained by the Associated Press.

Arizona's Administrative Office of the Courts has been required to report such court orders to the state's Department of Health Services since July 2010. Since then, 95 of the 128 petitions from minors have been given the green light.

Pro-life activists demonstrate during the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

Helena Silverstein, professor at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, however, told the AP the figure is not surprising.

"In every state I have studied, or other people have studied, the pattern is the same, and the pattern is that a minor who makes her way to a court and gets before a judge to petition for a bypass is very likely to get her petition granted," she said.

In 2012, there was a spike in the number of petitions granted, despite the fact that few petitions were considered that year.

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