In an
earlier diary, I noted that the DCF was fighting a judge's decision to allow a teen rape victim to have an abortion.
Word is out that Jeb! has decided to follow the law and not stand in the way of a court order. Hopefully, he'll be pilloried by his own side for doing the right thing, which is actually his only legal option.
Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday that the state will not appeal a judge's decision allowing a teenager in state custody to have an abortion.
"It's a tragedy that a 13-year-old girl would be in a vulnerable position where she could be made pregnant and it's a tragedy that her baby will be lost," Bush said in Tallahassee.
It was unclear Tuesday whether the girl, known only as L.G. in court papers and 14 weeks pregnant, had yet undergone an abortion. The American Civil Liberties Union, which has helped represent the girl, says it doesn't know if the procedure has been done.
State Department of Children & Families spokeswoman Marilyn Munoz said the agency would "respectfully comply with the court's decision." She declined to provide further details.
"We are working for the best interest of the young girl," Munoz said.
The teen became pregnant after running away from the DCF shelter where she lives.
Palm Beach Juvenile Judge Ronald Alvarez ruled Monday that she could have an abortion. He had issued an order last week temporarily stopping the teen from having the procedure after the DCF argued that she was too young and immature to decide for herself and state law prohibited the agency from consenting to an abortion.
Alvarez held up the abortion until a psychological evaluation was completed.
"Legally speaking, it's not a difficult decision to make," Alvarez said in court Monday. "Morally speaking, it's a very difficult decision for this court to make. ... But I'm not here to make the moral decision. I'm here to make the legal decisions."
DCF officials have said that state law prohibits the department from consenting to an abortion for a minor in the agency's care and requires the department to act in a child's best interest.
The ACLU said Florida law protects a minor's decision to decide on an abortion.
"Isn't it an indication of a strange state of affairs in Florida that we should be grateful that the governor has agreed to obey the law?" said Howard Simon, the ACLU's Florida executive director.
"This was also the law a week ago and this flurry of litigation could have been avoided if the governor could have gotten better legal advice last week that this minor female has a right to terminate her unwanted pregnancy," Simon said. "The governor has a duty to uphold the constitution -- not simply the provisions he agrees with."