When Chrissy* found out she was pregnant, "What am I going to do?" was not her only question. The 17-year old from South Carolina also had to ask, "How am I going to get Mom or Dad to let me have an abortion?"

South Carolina has a law that forces teens to get a parent's permission if they want an abortion. Thirty-two other states have similar laws. Some require a parent's permission. Others require doctors to notify parents.

Chrissy was so scared to tell her parents that she got her boyfriend, Ben*, to do it. Her parents' reaction surprised her. They were happy. They wanted Chrissy to have the baby. Ben's parents, though, were totally against the idea of them having a child. 

"Chrissy's parents wouldn't hear of an abortion," Ben says. "And if Chrissy had the baby, they would not allow her to give it up for adoption, either. They wanted her to have the baby, period."

But Chrissy didn't feel ready to have a child. There were other things she wanted to do before starting a family. She also felt too young for the responsibility. So, she went to stay with Ben's grandmother.

But the two were still in a jam. They couldn't get an abortion in South Carolina without the permission of at least one of the girl's parents.

They had one last option. A judicial bypass. That meant asking a judge to allow Chrissy to have the abortion without a parent's permission. Nearly every "parental involvement" law allows a teen girl to prove to a judge that she is mature enough to make the decision herself or that her parents would hurt her if she told them she was pregnant.

Now, though, the two faced another problem. 

Only three judges in the entire state of South Carolina were hearing these cases when Chrissy and Ben wanted an abortion. And none was available, according to Jessica Waters, spokeswoman for the National Abortion Federation, which helped Ben and Chrissy through their ordeal.

"We couldn't get anything done here," Ben says.

So, federation representatives set up a hearing with a judge in Atlanta, GA, which has a parental notification law. The federation also made an appointment for Chrissy to have an abortion in Georgia.

A little nervous, but half-relieved, Ben and Chrissy headed to Atlanta, a two-and-a-half-hour drive from their hometown. The first stop was an Atlanta courtroom where a judge granted permission for Chrissy to have an abortion. During the 30-minute hearing, the judge asked Chrissy a bunch of questions.

Why couldn't she get her parents' permission? Had she seriously considered her decision to have an abortion? Was anyone pressuring her to have an abortion?

The judge's decision cleared the way for Chrissy.

The National Abortion Federation paid for the abortion, which cost $1,800. That's more than usual because Chrissy was now 18 weeks pregnant. The whole judicial bypass procedure added several weeks to the process, says Ben and Chrissy.

"Having to go through an abortion is difficult enough," says Chrissy, who hasn't talked to her parents since leaving home. "And tacking on having to go all the way to Atlanta for a hearing just made it more difficult."

To learn more about abortion laws in your state check out Sex in the States.

* Names have been changed to protect privacy