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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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Well...
This is certainly a complicated issue for all involved as well as for everyone else poking their noses in this.
I can relate in one way or another to every side of this issue. My own daughter (I should note, who was not raised by me, but her mother and whatever guy she happened to be sleeping with - and did her utmost to ensure her and I spent as little time as possible together), soon to be 21, just recently found out she was pregnant. Of course, this also came shortly after fleeing her former boyfriend, and moreso his just-out-of-a-15-year-prison-sentence dad, who had served his time for manufacturing meth - and turned up at their place and guess what, yep, immediately set up shop to, yep, make meth again.
Of course, the story is vastly more complicated - the dad followed her from that state to this one, the ex-boyfriend stole almost all her belongings, and takes an even more complicated twist, as she was arrested for buying cold medicine - because of the people she was trying to get away from... and it was while being in-processed to jail she found out she was pregnant.
What a screwed up 4 months!
Now I would never, NEVER advise anyone to have an abortion. Nor would I EVER make an effort to PREVENT anyone from doing the same. However, in my daughter's case, I would absolutely understand if she DID choose that option, as she's currently under house arrest, pending a Grand Jury hearing (I think state's evidence is weak and circumstantial at best), has no vehicle (hers was totaled less than a month ago during a particularly bad snow storm), has no job (having only recently fled the state where she'd been living), virtually no savings (her ex cleaned out her bank account along with stealing nearly everything she owned), and owes a small fortune for the recent turn of events.
My only words to her: "Whatever you decide, I will support your decision."
It is not always a good thing to support a child's decision. Your example is case in point. Everyone you mentioned above made some very poor decisions. Most of which should not have been supported. (Grand jury hearings are generally the result of a bad decision.)
I can't claim to have supported any of these decisions - actually advised against many of them... and soon-to-be-21 does not qualify as a "child" any more either, though age aside, she'll always be my daughter. And to me at least, it seems the one thing she does need is to be able to count on my support.
You go Dad! Stand by her! My kids know I'll always stand by them, even if they broke the law. They know I'll turn them in for doing it, but I'll still be there.
Let the child have her child. Then she will learn the hard lessons associated with parenthood. Will the pro-life folks financially support her and her child? Do I hear a yes?
No one should be supporting anyone's family. The idea people think they can have a child and have the rest of us pay for them to stay home is deplorable.
So she and the child should end up on the street? Or do you think she should have a forced abortion? Think about what you're saying logically...
AWESOME!! AWESOME!! AWESOME!! I know this girl will get all the help she needs and it's wonderful to see that she took responsibility for her actions and shunned the easy, PC route of simply killing her baby. GOOD FOR HER!!!
How is abortion PC?
Are you kidding me? Most of the people in this country seem to favor killing babies in the womb in the name of convenience, cloaked in the disguise of "compassion" or "tolerance". It's fahionable and "with it" to be pro-abortion. The pro-lifers have been derided and ridiculed for years, and it's only getting worse.
These parents give pro-choicers a bad name. I think having a kid as a teenager is one of the stupidest things you can do, but it's her body. I have to think the parents are trying really hard to cover something up by preventing the birth. Daddy's baby, anyone?
And you can't just "slip" someone an abortion pill. There are two doses, and one is vaginal. Slipping someone the oral dose only may just result in a horribly disfigured and disabled child. Especially since it's only meant for use up to the eighth week, and this girl is already nine weeks pregnant. And it's only available by prescription. She may have been talking about emergency contraception, which also wouldn't work at this point in the pregnancy, and would only serve to endanger the health of the fetus and the girl.
Basically...what terrible parents these are.
These parents aren't pro-choice, therefore they don't give pro-choicers a bad name anymore than they give all parents a bad name, or all humans a bad name. Pro-choicers support her right to choose, regardless of her choice, something the parents aren't doing.
It is a human being. Nuf said. Have the baby. Cherish him (her).
Who is going to support this baby????? The parents didn't make it nor the grandparents so they shouldn't have to take care of this baby.....where is the babydaddy? Is the girl going to quit school or take the baby with her? Sad story so hope for the best for the baby and the parents who are just thinking of what is best so maybe this child will allow some childless couple the opportunity to adopt.
The dad had better help out and accept his responsibility as well, but she'll probably take better care of her baby than her parents did with her--sounds like they're not much interested in parenting.
OK, so the girl believes she is an adult but not an adult enough to stop taking from others? I am all for her decision but she needs to stop expecting things from everyone else. Being born is a gift and you need to earn everything else. Stop living with your grandmother, don't collect welfare/food stamps/free health care and don't expect anyone to support your decision but yourself. Sounds to me the parents need to use some tough love. Let her be the adult she is pretending to be.
If she already ran off to her grandmothers then there is likely far more to this story then the one sided reporting given. Provide us with all the information. This girl could have mental or physical problems that would complicate this story.
Her decision should in no way be forced on anyone else. Don't stand there with your hand out after your decision becomes too expensive or difficult.
Great, just what we need. Another Reality TV Family. Taxpayers - Bend Over.
Pro Choice works both ways. If this young lady has chosen to continue her pregnancy, she has every right to do so.
Well, Mom and Dad looks like you'll be raising another kid. Also, looks like welfare will be picking up a couple more folks on he already heavily burden system. LOL, the taxpayers will be paying for another child.
The world is overpopulated and overcrowded.
Did I read that correctly...."Lawyers with the Texas Center for Defense of Life, a pro-life advocacy group", citing Roe v. Wade as the basis for their clients' right to chose. How convenient for them.
I don't believe in abortion but I do believe in my rights as a parent. If my daughter took me to court over this or anything, she would need to pack and move immediately because she would no longer be welcomed in my house. I am also not the type who forgives the knives in my back especially put there by someone I take care of. So I would wish she and her child the best but they would be away form me and I would pretty much say forever.
Sounds to me like this daughter is not nice or respectful and she could just take somewhere else.
The parents should hand the child over to the court and tell the judge to take care of her and her little bastard.
I am a pro-choice advocate. But pro-choice means just that, the woman who is pregnant gets to choose. If this young woman does not wish to have an abortion, then she should be allowed to bear the child. If this were my daughter, I would sit down with her and go over all the options, from abortion to adoption to raising the child herself. I would make sure she understood all the consequences of every choice, then I would respect the choice that she made. You can't call yourself pro-choice and then try to take choice away from someone.
The fact that her mother went to a bar to induce the grandparents to slip her an abortion pill tells me a lot about the mother. Morning after pills are not intended for use as an abortion drug. These pills could be dangerous to someone unaware that she had taken them. The mother is completely irresponsible and incapable of making that decision for her daughter.
Did anyone think that maybe the grandparents were the drunks and that is why they were invited to a familiar place to talk about the situation.
The Grandparents in this case are the parents of the boy, not the girls Grandparents.
FL Electra -
Re-read the article. The 16 yr old girls, live with her grandmother.
"The pregnant young woman has lived with her grandparents for the past seven months, the court document states and is nine weeks pregnant." 5th paragraph of the article.
Yes, she has the right to keep the baby just not at my house. She might need to get a job, a place to stay and some responsibility.
The judge should rule that the father must be named and accept responsibility for the care and upbringing of the child. In other words, pay child support. If the teen refuses to do this, then the child is aborted unless the mother can show proof that she can care financially for the child.
This is the first good news story about abortion that I've heard in ages!!
If she can't take care of the baby, hopefully she will have the maturity to know it and will give it up for adoption, but either way she will have a clean conscience for the rest of her life because she didn't give in to pressure and allow a killing to take place.
What makes anyone think she has any maturity. The slut got knocked up, didn't she?
Nice judgemental comment there--very classy.
Sad deal. No way you should allow parents to force this on her. She could give the child up for adoption. They are not obligated to take care of her or the child if they choose not too if she chooses to keep the child. They are idiots, either way they have probably screwed up the relationship with the daughter.
I am sure we'll see many right to lifers supporting her decision and helping her get on her feet and get a good job and find quality childcare and housing, right?
Yes, another left-wing welfare degenerates!
They are ALREADY helping her out. She will have no worries, and may even serve as an inspiration to other girls who are goaded into killing their babies againt their wishes.
correct me if im wrong, but didn't the parents break the law by trying to get her grandparents to slip a drug to force a abortion on her? shouldn't this along be enough to get them locked up and take all their parents righs away ?
She is only a minor, but a doctor will also not perform an abortion on anyone against their will if they say it is not their choice. If a doctor does a procedure against someone's will, then that person can be sued and so can the facility. The harassment and abuse by the parents would get them arrested if she were an adult, and still should even since she is only 16 years old. There are stupid rulings in our schools everyday about elementary children getting suspended for a hello kitty water gun, a fake grenade pull on a playground, and yesterday someone's hair was a little to red and not natural. All of these kids got suspended for adults not using common sense and being stupid. Now if another student was harrassing her about the pregnancy it would also be an arrestable offense for intimidation. The girl's lawyer needs to have the parents arrested if they cannot back off from the girl's choice for intimidation, harrassment, and threats. The girl is only 16 years old, but she does have legal rights to live without these verbal abuses against her. She also has the rights to deny any grandparent involvement with this child too since they want to force her to have an abortion. She might be a minor, but parents cannot force someone to have a procedure an abortion against their will or the doctor and nurses involved could be arrested too. This is not a procedure that is going to save her life like some children have had with cancer and the parents do not want the child to have surgery or chemo, this is totally different. She is not going to die if she has this child or not, so the courts cannot force her to have an abortion when she does not consent. The abortion is not in the best interest of the 16 year old girl for her health since she isn't terminally ill. The ruling will be to let her have the child no matter what her parents want her to do. The best thing she can do is get a restraining order against them to cover her time through the pregnancy and then a new order once the child is born. The parents are giving up their rights as grandparents and will need to live with that decision the rest of their life.
Sounded more like talk from the parents more than actual physical attempts to obtain an abortion--emancipate the 16 year old, have a child at 16-17 can't expect parents to be responsible for her fetus/baby (after birth), want to be a parent then be a parent. Can't force a 16 year old to do anything they don't want to do--most cases. I know I had two, and we lived through those days, wasn't easy, we prevailed. Our two, fine, upstanding productive members of society. We are proud of both of them, one is 19 and the other 25.
Check the court records in Texas and see how many "alleged" fathers are dumping their paternity through filings. Left out of this story is the child's father. No effort on anyone's part to track him down and involve him in any of the process. How about not suing the parents and suing the father of the child. Conservatives are gutless to not create the same level of laws for the fathers of these children.
You are correct--the father is equally responsible. No question.
She was living with the boyfriend at her grandmother's house. It's in another link posted by sebrad.
both children are going to suffer. the 16 year old and the unborn child.
I think the unborn child will prefer any life to the alternative of being killed, and the child's mother will enjoy a lifetime without guilt for standing up for her baby's right to exist.
As long as this teen is NOT looking for monetary support OR free daycare from her parents/grandparents/state then by all means she has the right to keep the baby. The article is so vague and doesn't give a reason why the parents of this girl wants the teen to abort.
Once again thank you media for not giving us the whole story.