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| Court Considers Inmate Abortions |
| By Times-Picayune |
| Published: 09/05/2003 |
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Attorneys for a woman who was denied an abortion while in jail argued Wednesday before a federal appeals court in New Orleans that it's unconstitutional to require that a prisoner hire a lawyer and get a judge's permission for the procedure. The requirement pushed the woman beyond the three-month window in which she could have legally ended the pregnancy, her attorneys said. 'Being forced to carry a pregnancy to term is more than any woman should have to bear as a condition of her incarceration,' Linda Rosenthal of the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights said in asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to revive the lawsuit that her client, referred to in court records as Victoria W., filed against Terrebonne Parish authorities after being denied the abortion in 1999 while in the Parish jail. An attorney for parish authorities said the delays were caused by the incompetence of the prisoner's attorney, not Parish officials, and that, in any case, jails are not obliged to provide abortions that are not medically necessary. The 5th Circuit panel took the case under study after Wednesday's hearing but did not indicate when it will rule. Members of the panel include Judge Patrick Higginbotham, an appointee of President Reagan, the panel includes Judge Carl E. Stewart, named to the bench by President Clinton, and Judge Edward C. Prado, who was appointed last spring by President Bush. |
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