States differ in how they address the issue of termination of parental rights and the mentally ill parent. Some States rely on case precedent to explain the statutory basis of termination, and others specifically deal with the issue of the mentally ill parent in their statutes. The 13 States reviewed in this article are Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, and West Virginia. The general legal principle followed in the States is that the need to protect children supersedes the general rights of adults. In all of the 13 States examined, this principle is followed when the child's best interest mandates termination of parental rights due to the parent's mental illness. Some States require that the mental illness be coupled with another ground of termination (e.g., abandonment), or that the mental illness be the sole basis for termination, as in Tennessee. Regardless of the specific wording used by a State, the necessity of protecting children governs termination decisions. 78 notes