jeb bush trying to stop 13 year old orphan who wants abortion

[nrs421]

so what do you guys think about Jeb Bush trying to stop this girl from getting an abortion.


By Kathleen Chapman

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

WEST PALM BEACH — A 13-year-old foster child ended her pregnancy Tuesday, hours after Gov. Jeb Bush ordered the state to stop all intervention in her case.

A juvenile court judge cleared the way for the girl's abortion in a final hearing Tuesday morning. The girl was taken to a clinic soon afterward, said her attorney, Maxine Williams of Palm Beach County's Legal Aid Society.

The 13-year-old, known by her initials L.G., had no complications, Williams said late Tuesday.

"She was relieved. And ready to get it over with," she said.

The case set off a national debate when the head of the Florida Department of Children and Families ordered her attorneys to stop the abortion in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday that the state agency was right to show concern for the life of L.G.'s unborn child and to consult a judge before L.G. made an important decision.

"The department did the right thing to make the initial appeal, to make sure that this was reviewed carefully. We're talking about the loss of a life," Bush said Tuesday morning.

But he said it was now time for the state to drop its appeals and respect the decision of Juvenile Court Judge Ronald Alvarez, who ruled Monday that L.G. could have the abortion.

"I said, 'Look, if the judge has ruled, it's time to move on,' " Bush said.

But the state's short-lived attempt to block the abortion infuriated critics, who said it was another case of conservative political leaders putting pro-life idealogy ahead of the law. They compared the intervention with Bush's attempts to stop a judge from ending the life of severely brain damaged Terri Schiavo, who died March 31 at age 41.

"I think this has just been a terrible manipulation of the courts by DCF to advance a political agenda over the best interests of a 13-year-old child," said James K. Green, who argued the girl's abortion rights in the case for the American Civil Liberties union.

It is unconstitutional, he said, for the state to force a 13-year-old to carry a pregnancy to term against her wishes. "I wish the governor had come to that recognition a week ago."

DCF officials have declined comment on whether they consulted with the governor's office before going into court to stop the abortion April 26.

The case galvanized both sides of the abortion debate and got national attention. One attorney repeatedly called the courthouse, volunteering to represent the fetus. Randall Terry, founder of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, wrote a letter to the governor asking him not to "surrender this unborn child to the hands of his would-be slayers." The Palm Beach County Right to Life League plans a protest at the courthouse today.

But though the ruling was closely followed, attorneys do not believe it will set a new precedent or change state policy. Appeals court judges did not settle the central issue raised by the case — who, if anyone, has the right to speak for a pregnant teen with no parents? If the state asks to stop another girl's abortion, judges will have to consider the same issue again.

The ACLU argued L.G's constitutional right to choose, saying that no one but L.G. had the right to decide what was in her best interests. The organization believes Alvarez should have simply tossed out the motion to stop the abortion, saying he had no right to decide the issue for L.G.

But Alvarez agreed to hear evidence on the medical and emotional risks of abortion, as well as a court psychologist's assessment of her mental state, before deciding she could go ahead with the abortion.

Williams and other attorneys who represent foster children have said they have no doubt that girls in state care have a right to make up their own minds without interference. The Florida Supreme Court repeatedly has ruled that minors do not have to get their parents' permission before having an abortion.

Because L.G.'s parents lost their right to raise her, the lawyers said, the state serves as her legal custodian. But the state has no more right to stop her from ending the pregnancy than her biological parents would, they argued.

But Gov. Jeb Bush and others have said the DCF was acting as a good parent when it asked the court to review the case.

"There is an added responsibility where the state has some degree of responsibility over the well-being of that child," Bush said Tuesday.

DCF Secretary Lucy Hadi expressed the same view.

"We acted on the best interests of the child," Hadi said.

Girl in foster care since 9

L.G. has been in state care since her ninth birthday, when child abuse investigators picked her up at a day care.

Her former mother, who lives in West Palm Beach, said the little girl was expecting presents and a pizza party that night, but never came home.

The state ended her parents' rights in 2001 because of abuse and neglect.

Since then, L.G. has lived in foster and group homes. A family adopted her younger brother, but couldn't take her.

L.G. is unhappy in foster care and has repeatedly run away.

The last time she ran away, she was gone for nearly a month. The agency notified police near the group home she left in Pinellas County, but Alvarez was infuriated that the court wasn't notified that she was missing. The state, he said, should have done more to find her instead of rushing into court once she was pregnant.

Her mother said L.G. told her a 28- or 30-year-old man picked her up from the streets, gave her alcohol and drugs and had sex with her at his house. The Palm Beach Post is not naming the mother to protect L.G.'s identity.

The woman said she called the police to report a statutory rape, furious that the state considered her an unfit parent but then failed to protect her daughter from a man she believes exploited her.

Beverly Andringa, who supervises the felony division of the Pinellas County State Attorney's Office, said Tuesday she couldn't find any reports that L.G. might have been the victim of a crime. But she said she definitely would investigate.

"We don't have a case, but maybe we should," Andringa said.

L.G. found out she was pregnant at a doctor's appointment about three weeks ago. She met with a counselor, weighed the risks and decided that she did not want a baby. A caseworker with a private foster care agency helped her schedule the abortion for April 26.

That same day, DCF attorneys rushed into court on Hadi's orders, asking Alvarez to issue an emergency order stopping the procedure.

In a recording of that initial hearing obtained by The Post, Alvarez greeted the team of attorneys from the local office of DCF in his court.

"What do I owe this honor to? Three lawyers from the Department of Children and Families? . . . I don't usually get this type of attention," Alvarez said.

DCF attorney Jeffrey Gillen cited a state law that prohibits his agency from consenting to an abortion. He said the state had little information about L.G.'s condition. The state didn't know if she might face complications with the pregnancy or if the fetus was healthy and didn't believe she was emotionally equipped to make a decision, Gillen said.

Alvarez then asked if the state was asking him to simply postpone the abortion, or block it entirely.

"It would be a permanent injunction your honor," Gillen said, "and we would ..."

Alvarez interrupted.

"A permanent injunction and you've already stated you don't know if this is going to cause her to lose her own life?" he said.

"Oh my."

The Legal Aid Society, which had represented the girl for years, objected to even a temporary hold on the girl's abortion, saying she had the right to choose.

Legal Aid and the ACLU challenged Alvarez's decision in the 4th District Court of Appeal, arguing that he had no right to make a decision for L.G. The attorneys later withdrew those motions, allowing Alvarez to rule Monday.

He said at that hearing that his decision was difficult morally, but not legally. "I'm not here to make the moral decision. I'm here to make the legal decisions," he said. He allowed the abortion to go ahead.

The state immediately appealed, but withdrew its challenges on Bush's order.

Case is 'tragedy,' Bush says

The two sides in the abortion debate remained divided by the case.

Lillian Tamayo, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of north Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, blasted the state for interfering in the case. L.G. did everything right, Tamayo said — she spoke with an adult, talked to counselors, weighed the risks and then made her own decision.

"Forcing this baby to have a baby — what's humane about that?" Tamayo said. "I was very disturbed by these actions. It's just one more example of this governor's intrusion into personal private family matters."

Palm Beach County Right to Life League President Frances Fitzgerald said she was disappointed.

"We need to take care of both of them. We need to take care of the baby and the young mother," she said.

But all said they felt for a girl who said she would rather have an abortion than deliver her own child to the state foster care system.

Though some had offered to take the baby, no one has come forward to adopt L.G.

Anticipating the abortion early Tuesday, Bush said it was a sad ending to a sad case.

"It's a tragedy that a 13-year-old child would be in a vulnerable position where she could be made pregnant and it's a tragedy that her baby will be lost," he said. "There's no good news in this at all."

[jnd3]

I like what Scrappleface has to say:

Originally Posted by Scrappleface

(2005-05-03) -- A 13-year-old girl, who ran away from a government home and got pregnant, today received permission from the state of Florida to abort her 14-week-old child.

However, a spokesman for the state Department of Children and Families announced that because she broke the rules by running away, "this young lady is in big trouble and gets no TV for a whole week."

A Palm Beach County Circuit Court ruled that the teen was competent to make the decision to end the life of her child. But the judge refused to step in to lift the TV ban, dismissing her claims that the punishment could cause longterm emotional trauma.

"Running away from home is a serious infraction," the judge wrote. "Maybe if she misses a few of her favorite shows, she'll think twice next time."

An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which helped the girl secure the abortion, said the ACLU is still mulling whether to appeal the TV ban under the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment."

[DiscipleDOC]

I am just so sick of the court system...I don't know what to do. I hate the fact the the courts would rather end life than preserve it.

[nrs421]

but she is 13.....

[DiscipleDOC]

Even more of a reason why she DOES NOT need an abortion....

[Riptide]

I tend to think it should be up to her parents. But she's a ward of the state right?

[netviper13]

Another victory for women. Glad to see the courts haven't been poisoned by religious revivalism yet.

[DaveW]

Originally Posted by netviper13

Another victory for women.

except for the unborn ones.

[netviper13]

Originally Posted by DaveW

except for the unborn ones.

Can't argue with that.

[Saint Lucifer]

Look at the bright side: Since at the age of 13, she doesn't have raise a child she may at least have a chance at becoming a contributing member of society... provided she 'behaves' herself.

It doesn't guarantee that she won't become a drain on society later on, but it helps decrease the chances.

[Acid Rain]

Originally Posted by DiscipleDOC

Even more of a reason why she DOES NOT need an abortion....

It seems like being aborted would be preferable to being born into a trashy, depressing (for them AND everyone else) life, and sucking everyone else down with you every step of the way.

I can't remember a thing before the age of 3, so being aborted would hardly bug me. Sometimes it's just a practical choice that has to be made. Also, I highly doubt that girl will make this horrifying mistake again.

And, finally, does not the Bible itself state that babies that are pre-maturely hosed go straight to heaven? If that was true, being aborted would be a blessing.

[Hotchick]

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