Florida teen free to have abortion

[imenja]

Judge Ronald Alvarez ruled yesterday that Florida's Department of Children and Families (DCF) could not intervene with L.G.'s legal right to have an abortion. The state says it will not appeal the ruling. This is the resolution of a case many on DU were able to chock up to the anti-abortion forces, because they relied on a BBC article that inaccurately reported the status of the case. Alvarez is the same judge who issued the temporary injunction that the BBC reported as though it were the court's final ruling.


Bush: State will not appeal ruling allowing teen's abortion
By JILL BARTON
Associated Press Writer

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — 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. . . .

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."

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/gen/ap/FL_Abortion_Dispute.html

[demo dutch]

1. Already posted

[imenja]

5. knowing that was a possibility, I placed it here rather than in LBN

[Guckert]

2. add this to Jeb's fake stance on "Life". I'm sure the R.R. nuts are fuming

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH :rofl:

[brainshrub]

3. This was a failed attempt to set a precedent.

[ultraist]

4. "it's a tragedy that her baby will be lost," Bush said in Tallahassee.

"Morally speaking, it's a very difficult decision for this court to make. .." (Judge Alvarez)

Why doesn't the Judge and Jebbie leave their personal "morals" OUT of it. Their JOBS are to uphold the LAW.

:eyes:

[imenja]

6. that is exactly what the judge said

[demo dutch]

7. Jeb won't fight it because he'll be blamed for the lousy job "his" DCF

dept does in Florida, The same Dept that let her run away in the first which resulted in pregnancy!Remember 5-year-old Rilya Wilson?

The DCF dept has been so seriously mismanaged and poorly funded, it's disgusting!

When Florida ranked 36th among the 50 states in 1999 for key indicators of children's well-being. Oklahoma ranked 40th. Its secretary of Health & Human Services at the time was Jerry Regier, which was exaclty the man Bush tapped to head Florida's Department of Children & Families. Oh by the way....Jerry Regier is an evangelical Christian who views spanking that causes ''bruises or welts'' as acceptable punishment. He resigned from the Florida DCF in Aug, 2004, six weeks after apologizing for fraternizing with lobbyists who did business with the agency.

So, fighting this abortion would only highlight the situation at Jeb's DCF even more and possibly throw his his buddy into the limelight.

[ComerPerro]

8. Good, more fodder for the Reich wing to use to attack judges

Who happen to have the audacity to interperet the law, and in this case went one horrible step further by choosing to uphold a current state law.

Evil!

[Coexist]

9. what a relief. Forced pregnancy initiatives need to go away

[Vinca]

10. As if Jeb and the little woman would have been first in line to adopt

the kid. Give me a break. They love the fetus, then deny health care, education and a decent standard of living to the child. Of course now they'll start sputtering "activist judges" again.

[Nikki Stone 1]

13. It's easy to love a fetus. Someone else's body is taking care of it.

But God forbid these hypocritical nutbags step forward to actually take care of the baby once it is born. Or a child in trouble. Where were Jeb, George, Laura and the bunch when this 13-year old girl, who has obviously needed a home for a LONG time, came available for adoption?

[Crunchy Frog]

11. What I don't understand is why

if a child is psychologically unfit to have an abortion, that she would be psychologically fit to carry a pregnancy to term, give birth, and deal with the stresses either of motherhood, or of giving the baby up for adoption. There just seems to be something wrong with that reasoning.

Well, at any rate, I'm glad she won't be forced to have the baby. I just hope that she doesn't get surrounded by a circus of fundies.

[imenja]

12. the psych test

the court ordered was apparently meant to determine if she was competent to make up her own mind on the issue. The court obviously determined she was. Jeb Bush is simply using DCF as a political proxy. Only it's backfired twice now: in this case and Terri Schiavo. I can't imagine this helps him with the right to lifers, other that to fuel the controversy over the judiciary. Of course the judge was simply upholding a law passed by the Florida legislature.

[melnjones]

14. EXACTLY. nt