Here we go again...
The plight of a 13-year-old Palm Beach County foster child, who is pregnant and wants an abortion, is pitting children's advocates against Florida's child welfare agency, which has custody of the girl and has asked a judge to forbid her from ending her 13-week pregnancy.
ACLU Attorneys for the girl (L.G.), told Judge Ronald Alvarez that Florida courts have consistently held that, under the
state's strongly worded privacy law, minors have a right to decide for themselves whether to continue or abort a pregnancy.
''The Department of Children & Families (DCF) is acting in accordance with what we believe is in the best interest of the child,'' said Zoraya Suarez, a spokeswoman for Secretary Lucy Hadi.
Her ACLU lawyers insist that the Florida law is trumped by a 1989 Florida Supreme Court decision, called the T.W. case. Citing privacy rights, the high court struck down a state law that required the consent of parents before a minor could obtain an abortion.
''DCF and the circuit court have instituted a process whereby the state will make a decision for L.G. based upon its own evaluation of her best interest,'' the girl's lawyers wrote. ``This it cannot do.''
L.G., whose parents were stripped of their rights to raise her, has been in foster care for several years. Though she is originally from Palm Beach County, sources say she was living in a group home in St. Petersburg when she became pregnant. She now lives in a licensed shelter home, records show.
About two weeks ago, L.G. learned she was pregnant following a medical examination, records show. ''Almost immediately after learning that she was pregnant, L.G. informed [her] DCF caseworker that she wished to terminate the pregnancy,'' according to pleadings filed by her attorneys.
The abortion was scheduled for Tuesday. But early Tuesday morning, DCF attorneys, in an emergency motion, asked Alvarez to block the abortion. He agreed, temporarily, and ordered the girl be examined for mental competency.
But Howard Simon, who heads the ACLU, called the state's action politically motivated. ''This is what you get when ideology drives child welfare decisions,'' Simon said.
''Putting aside the legal and the constitutional principles here, the fact that the state is preparing to force a 13-year-old to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term is just simply cruel,'' Simon added.
8/28/05
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
The Miami Herald
Link to Entire Story
Florida Constitution:
SECTION 23. Right of privacy.--Every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person's private life
Says nothing about being limited to persons over 18.
Right to privacy is express in the Florida Constitution.
Right to privacy is implied in the US Constitution.
Right to privacy includes the right to make medical decisions.
Jeb Bush and his DCF have granted themselves the right to make the decision for her.
This foster girl, living in a group home, is forced to bring a child into this world with the knowledge that her mother fought the State to terminate the pregnancy.
I think "Culture of Life" really means "Culture of Shitty Life"
[Update] Miami Herald Poll
Should the state be allowed to forbid abortion for a 13-year-old foster child?
Yes -- she's too young to decide 42%
No -- even minors have rights to their own bodies 72%
Jeb the voters aren't with you!!! That is what these Republicans do not realize. You would have thought they learned their lesson after Terri Schaivo.
VOTE!