In re Guardianship of Moe
Massachusetts Appeals Court
960 N.E.2d 350 (2012)
- Written by Haley Gintis, JD
Facts
Mary Moe (defendant), a 32-year-old woman who suffered from schizoaffective disorder and bipolar mood disorder, became pregnant for a third time. The Department of Mental Health (plaintiff) filed a petition in the probate court to declare Moe’s parents as temporary guardians so that they could consent to an abortion procedure. The probate court appointed a guardian ad litem to investigate whether Moe would consent to an abortion if competent and held a hearing on the question of incompetency. At the hearing, Moe stated that she did not want to have an abortion. Moe also stated that she was not currently pregnant, had previously given birth to a baby girl, and had met the judge prior to the hearing, all of which were false assertions. Although the guardian ad litem believed that if Moe were competent then she would not consent to an abortion, the probate court granted guardianship to Moe’s parents and concluded that Moe could be forced to have the abortion. The court also concluded, sua sponte, that the facility performing the abortion procedure should sterilize Moe to prevent any future pregnancies. Moe appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Grainger, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.