Judge okays abortion for girl, 13

[soup]

By Associated Press
Published May 3, 2005

WEST PALM BEACH - A 13-year-old at the center of an abortion fight with the state was given permission Monday to terminate her pregnancy, but it was unclear whether she immediately underwent the procedure.

Attorneys for the girl, known only as L.G. in court papers, said the abortion was scheduled for later Monday. However, the state Department of Children and Families appealed the decision, according to Maxine Williams, one of the teen's attorneys.
>snip<

Alvarez held up the abortion until a psychological evaluation was completed, but he ruled Monday that the teen would not be physically or emotionally harmed by the abortion.

"Legally speaking, it's not a difficult decision to make," Alvarez was quoted as saying by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "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.sptimes.com/2005/05/03/State/Judge_okays_abortion_.shtml


The abortion was scheduled, However, DCF appealed the decision. What does that mean?

---

ON EDIT Please note wakeme2008's updated post #14.

wakeme2008 Tue May-03-05 10:13 AM
Response to Original message
14. On hold as of 8:00pm last night
Edited on Tue May-03-05 10:15 AM by wakeme2008


http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11548293.htm

DCF officials then ''refused'' to drive the girl to a clinic to end her pregnancy, said Williams, the girl's attorney.

"Alvarez then signed an order allowing L.G.'s attorneys at Legal Aid to transport her to a medical clinic, Williams said. The lawyers were on their way to pick up the girl when they got word: The DCF had appealed Alvarez's order allowing the lawyers to transport L.G. and, once again, had received an automatic stay, this time from the Fourth District Court of Appeal."

---

Sorry for any confusion, and thank you wakeme2008.

[BR_Parkway]

1. It means we're in for another endless round of "culture of life" and

"activist judges" on every MSM channel ad nauseum

[China_cat]

2. That means that unless she

got to the clinic before the runner got to city hall, she didn't...and won't be able to...have the abortion until the appeal is decided.

[ET Awful]

3. It means that they'll keep filing appeals and using delaying tactics

until she's too far along in the pregnancy to have an abortion legally.

[CO Liberal]

4. And The "Right-to-Life" Assholes Will Keep it Tied Up In The Courts....

...until it's too late for LG to get an abortion.

[Hobarticus]

6. But, they're taking up a collection to start a scholarship fund

for her and her child, I'm sure.

[CO Liberal]

24. You Wish!!!

They'd forget all about her right after she was forced to give birth.

[Hobarticus]

43. But...but..the "Culture of Life" doesn't end at childbirth, or does it?

I can't keep up.

[CO Liberal]

47. It Does for Modern-Day Conservatives

But it varies in other demographics. For example, I heard a joke once that in the Jewish faith, a fetus is not considered viable until it graduates from med school.

(Not intended to be a slam - That joke was humorously posted with all possible respect for those of the Jewish faith. Shalom.)

[soup]

5. That's what I was afraid of, thanks. n/t

[cally]

25. Are you sure?....I thought the appeals court has to issue a

stay to stop actions taken because of a lower court ruling. I'm not a lawyer but that's what I thought.

[msanthrope]

27. On edit--see below, a stay was issued...n/t

[Ripley]

7. You bet your ass you aren't there to make a "moral decision."

That is where the wackos want to take us. A man in a robe making our moral, emotional decisions for us.

How far back into the primordial soup are we going to regress?

[Javaman]

8. Let the rightwing media driven protests begin!!

How exhausting.

[rodeodance]

9. yes, exhausting--lets not give in/up. Hard to hold it all some days!!

[MaineDem]

10. I hope she got this done before it's too late

I'm so afraid this will be tied up for too long.

I hope this little girl has all the help and support she needs. And, yes, a 13 year old is a little girl.

I wish her all the luck in the world...and a painful castration to whomever did this to her!

[Dora]

11. "However, DCF appealed the decision" WTF????

Isn't the role of DCF to act as an ADVOCATE for the CHILD'S BEST INTERESTS?

It seems to me that they're now acting illegally - that is to say, they are abandoning their role as advocate and guardian. Wouldn't that be illegal?

Of course, they abandoned that role a long time ago when they placed her in a situation that allowed her to get pregnant, for chrissake!

[Roland99]

12. Darn activist judges...how dare they....stick to the law?

[KansDem]

13. Truer words were never spoken...

But I'm not here to make the moral decision. I'm here to make the legal decisions.

Well, other truer words have been spoken but this statement is right up there with them...

The moral decision lies with the person making the decision. This is what the pro-choice movement is all about: letting the individual person make the choice.

GOP, take heed!: It's not about fanatical Xian mythologists encroaching on the individual's choice regarding life or death, it's about the individual making that choice for herself/himself based on morality, conscience, and values. This is what's perverted about the GOP arguments. The Republicans want everyone to take personal responsibility and making these kinds of choices is part of that responsibility. But when those choices go against the Party dogma, or runs contrary to Christian mythology, then get the government involved! They're perfectly content to let government take over when religion fails. It hypocrisy at its ugliest.

Republicans must really feel the churches are not doing their jobs if they insist on government taking control of moral decision-making...

I applaud this judge and his wisdom to know what the limits of his responsibilities are.

[wakeme2008]

14. On hold as of 8:00pm last night

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11548293.htm

DCF officials then ''refused'' to drive the girl to a clinic to end her pregnancy, said Williams, the girl's attorney.

"Alvarez then signed an order allowing L.G.'s attorneys at Legal Aid to transport her to a medical clinic, Williams said. The lawyers were on their way to pick up the girl when they got word: The DCF had appealed Alvarez's order allowing the lawyers to transport L.G. and, once again, had received an automatic stay, this time from the Fourth District Court of Appeal."

[soup]

16. Thank you. I hadn't seen that.

I shake my head so often at the news, it's a wonder my brains aren't scrambled.

[wakeme2008]

17. LOL I posted the Orlando article this morning

and then had to have a mod delete it after I check the Miami paper.


But per the Miami paper the Judge in this case sounds fair IMHO.



Judge Ronald Alvarez met privately Thursday with L.G., a 13-year-old whose abortion plans are being fought by the state

[soup]

21. sorry wakeme2008.

I checked, but hadn't seen anything posted.

Should I add the Miami article to the OP? Ask the mods to delete this, too? How does that work?

[wakeme2008]

29. do no worry current info is here

Now we have to wait for the appeals court. :(

[Jacobin]

15. Oh boy. Here we go again. Where are the radical Xtian Clerics?

3, 2, 1....Will Smirky call congress back to enact a federal law to save the fetus?

Will there be radical xtian clerics kidnapping this girl who is pregnant?

The latest distraction should be a real doozy.

[Warpy]

18. Let's see, at 13 she wasn't ready for an abortion, but she was

completely ready for MOTHERHOOD??????

I don't know what those screeching right to lifer extremists are thinking. Are they thinking? Are they drugged? Can we have the rapture now and get rid of them? Please?

[brownecowe]

19. You make a good point

Either way the girl loses.

[CottonBear]

39. She wants the abortion. She will not "lose" because of an abortion.

She will win the right to have a childhood and grow up and graduate from school.

[MaineDem]

20. Doesn't it just blow your mind?

It makes no sense to me. The poor child isn't mature enough to understand what an abortion is BUT she's mature enough to be a mother??? Well, physically mature obviously but... good lord!!!

I'm telling you, it just blows my mind.

[brownecowe]

22. So she is not mature enough for either decision?

This case is very sad.

[MaineDem]

30. No, I don't think she is mature enough for either decision

Which is why a judge has to decide. It's the law, right?

She's not mature enough to be pregnant. Her body isn't ready for all that. She's too young for the rape that caused it as well.

I'm too emotionally involved in this sort of thing so it's probably best I back away. But I wish her all the luck int he world. I just hope she gets plenty of support from comforting people.

Edited for spelling.

[Occulus]

44. So she definitely was raped into the pregnancy, then?

(God. That's a terrible.. and accurate.. way to say it, though, isn't it?)

[kitkatrose]

40. No, she's mature enough to be an incubator.

I'm sure they'll make her put the baby up for adoption, for its own good. :eyes: :puke:

[wicket]

23. yeah she's not "mature enough" to decide to have an abortion

But she's perfectly mature to have a child. :eyes: I don't know what is going through the minds of these people. They don't give a crap about the child once it is born.

[brownecowe]

26. It's not a child yet

n/t

[FlaGranny]

32. Yes it is - the pregnant girl

IS the child.

[wicket]

37. hence why I said "once it is born"

[soup]

28. Not motherhood...'just' birth.

I'm pretty sure custody would not be awarded to a 13 year old ward of the state.

What a freaking mess they create. This poor girl must be so angry, so frustrated, so scared.

[msanthrope]

31. Right--she can be a baby incubator for the privatized

adoption services in Florida......

[China_cat]

34. And even if the fetus is born white and healthy

they've negated her rights to sign over the baby for adoption (too young and immature to decide for abortion? too young and immature to decide for adoption.) Not to mention Florida's law requiring the sperm donor to also sign adoption papers.

So the baby goes into the system until the courts can sever any parental rights accruing (average time for CONVICTED adult child abusers to lose parental rights is 3-5 years). By which time the baby will be way over 2 years old and considered unadoptable, have no bonds with its birth mother and just be another throw-away like its mother.

[Lochloosa]

33. And lost sight in all of this

WHO IS THE FATHER AND HOW CAN SHE BECOME PREGNANT WHILE IN STATE CUSTODY? AAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH

On Edit:

Someone needs to go to JAIL!

[China_cat]

35. But it's all HER fault.

Don't you realize that? She's getting what she deserves for the nerve of having a vagina.

[demo dutch]

36. Notice how repugs aren't touching this one after the Schiavo ordeal!

[ima_sinnic]

38. send an e-mail to DCF telling them what you think

[e-mail]

will probably just be deleted immediately -- but it made me feel better to tell them off.

[onehandle]

41. Good.

What the Right wanted of this child was pure slavery.

How about saving some of the already born babies in Texas that Bush's law is killing weekly?

[rocktivity]

42. As of this morning, the abortion is back on

Fla. Won't Appeal Abortion for 13-Year-Old

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. May 3, 2005 — A judge ruled that a 13-year-old girl at the center of an abortion fight with the state may terminate her pregnancy, and Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday that the state will not appeal further.

Good move, Jebbie--your presidential aspirations are already on thin ice. Preparing to send in the state police to move Terri Schiavo before you knew you could so so legally is impeachable enough: do you REALLY want to top that off with forcing a 13-year-old to have a baby?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Rose Siding]

45. That article doesn't address DCF's appeal from yesterday

from the 2nd link in the OP:

snip>
DCF officials then ''refused'' to drive the girl to a clinic to end her pregnancy, said Williams, the girl's attorney.

"Alvarez then signed an order allowing L.G.'s attorneys at Legal Aid to transport her to a medical clinic, Williams said. The lawyers were on their way to pick up the girl when they got word: The DCF had appealed Alvarez's order allowing the lawyers to transport L.G. and, once again, had received an automatic stay, this time from the Fourth District Court of Appeal."
.............

I wonder if that report was in error, if it's been dropped or if Jeb's, um, out of the loop?

[rocktivity]

46. Jeb ordered the DCF not to file any more appeals as of TODAY

That means the appeal which stopped the lawyers from taking the girl to the clinic last night was overturned. So it's all over...AND WE WON!!!
More

:bounce:
rocknation

[Strawman]

48. Ed Schultz just made a really stupid remark about this on the radio

He suggested that the State of Florida should have deceptively injected her with birth control drugs after her menstrual cycle began since she was a ward of the state. It was as if she had no right to make decisions about her own body as if she were some stray dog that needed to be sterlized. A caller called him out on it and he cut her right off instead of admitting that it was an insensitive remark.

The whole story was framed in terms of the political game between Democrats and Republicans and the filibuster. It was just fucking sad. Fuck the filibuster. There's a larger issue here. It's important, but not as important as making sure these religious kooks keep their laws off of all of our bodies.