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Subscribe to RSSA lawsuit filed by a 16-year-old girl against her parents alleges she is being coerced to have an abortion against her will. KPRC's Courtney Zavala reports.
A pregnant Texas 16-year-old has gone to court to avoid having an abortion against her will, according to court documents.
Lawyers with the Texas Center for Defense of Life, a pro-life advocacy group, filed a petition on behalf of the teen plaintiff identified only by her initials in Harris County, Texas district court on Feb. 10. A judge granted a temporary restraining order in the case, according to local NBC affiliate Click2Houston.com.
"We were asking the judge to stop them physically forcing her to have an abortion," the plaintiff’s attorney Stephen Casey told Click2Houston.com. “They cannot drag her to get an abortion, force an abortion on our client.”
Read more, watch video on Click2Houston.com
The eight-page petition alleges that the plaintiff’s parents, identified as Jeffrey Koen and Denise Watts Koen, attempted to force their daughter to act against her will "by coercing her to have an abortion with both verbal and physical threats and harassment."
The pregnant young woman has lived with her grandparents for the past seven months, the court document states, and is nine weeks pregnant.
After the plaintiff informed her parents that she was pregnant, her mother pushed for the termination of the pregnancy, according to the petition. The plaintiff’s father said that the plaintiff’s "only option was for her to have an abortion," the document states.
The plaintiff’s mother "invited the paternal grandparents to a bar for further discussion, where she suggested that she might slip R.E.K. an abortion pill through deception," according to the petition.
Lawyers argue that the teen has the right to choose to keep her baby under Roe v. Wade, the Supreme court case that legalized abortion.
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How can you be so sure that only anti-choice people are rooting for the young couple?
It is a shame that children get to make decisions that adversely effect their adult lives! So I guess this teenager expects her parents to take care of her and her child.
So you think that because it would be an inconvenience to the grandparents, that it's okay to murder the baby?
Seek help.
I couldnt imagine the trauma this would do to this teenage girl if she was forced to have an abortion. I am a result of a teenage pregnancy... and my mother is a mother of six. She is college educated, married for over thirty plus years..a professional educator and involved in bettering society and our community as well .She has often told me..that while she was in the hospital at sixteen pregnant with me.. a couple of nurses tried to convince her of aborting me. She was shocked and frightened by the strength of the hatred towards the life she carried with in her. My life has been a blessing. I am a hospice worker. I take care of those who are forgotten..and give them respect and my love. There is a place for everyone ..no matter what the circumstances. I am greatful for my mother..she moved out at seventeen worked full time and bettered her life and the lives of many. Not everyone is a sad statistic.
Nor could I, moreover I don't think I could force my daughter to give up the baby for adoption. Interesting the sixteen year old father, Evan Madison is ready to step up to the plate and accept the awesome job of being a parent. These kids do not need judgement they need support, love and mentoring.
This is no better than if the parents were forcing her TO have an abortion. I know she is only 16, but look at the examples she has had in life. This is going to end badly no matter what the choices are.
I am still astounded that the parents are trying to bully their daughter into killing their grandchild.
Yup.
This is a regular thing in this world. In America most believe the parents have all rights of their 16 year old child, which is not true. Try finding your 16 year old in a motel with some bums with alcohol. Take your 16 year old to the hospital for a alcohol test. (The hospital will tell the parents, if the daughter refuse a alcohol test. They cannot give the test.) I would imagine on this article, the parents have no legal rights. It will solely be upto the 16 year old decision.If they are true loving parents, I'm sure in the end they will support the child's choice either way.
My question is the worm that got her pregnant. Was he an adult, is he going to stand up and financially support his new baby?
The worm that got her pregnant is a sixteen year old boy. He is a decent kid that is more than ready to step up to the plate and take on the responsibility of fatherhood. With some moral support, mentoring and yes financial help they could make it.
16 and pregnant that is a shame. At that age you are not ready to take care of someone else heck you cant even take care of yourself. Hope things work out.
While the odds are stacked against the young couple, they can make it, as was the case of my friend and her recently deceased husband. They were married for over fifty years.
I haven't read all the comments, but I have seen plenty that scream about how the girl and her baby are going to end up on welfare and they shouldn't be allowed a single penny, and how she should have kept her legs together. BUT I HAVEN'T SEEN A SINGLE COMMENT SAYING THAT THE BOY INVOLVED SHOULD ALSO BE HELD RESPONSIBLE! He had his fun, he should also support this baby. As for a forced abortion... unthinkable. So many pro-choice advocate would be screaming for her right to HAVE an abortion without her parents' consent, but I see only a few saying that she also has the right to choose NOT to have an abortion. This is a sad story all the way around, and the baby is a victim. Especially if it is murdered for the convenience of it's so-called family. Get the girl into foster care, get the baby into an adoption arrangement, make the boy (man?) who also created the baby take responsibility, and get the rest of that girl's family far, far away from her. It's time to break that cycle.