Pregnant teen wins battle to stop ****** abortion
A 16-year-old Hockley girl had to make a choice after finding out she was pregnant in January. She could either keep her baby or appease her parents.
The teen said her ****** and ****** threatened her and were trying to ****** her into having an abortion, according to court records.
After weeks of tearful fighting, the girl took a dramatic step: She sued her parents.
"There were times when she was in tears," the unborn *****'s ****** told reporters Monday about the coercion and the decision to file a lawsuit. "It was hard on her and me."
He said the girl's parents were threatening to "make her life miserable" until she got an abortion.
The recently filed lawsuit ended Monday with an agreement that the teen's parents would not use physical ***** or psychological coercion. They also agreed to pay half of the hospital bill if the girl has not married when the baby is delivered and let her use her car to go to school and work.
"She wanted to have this ***** without coercion and she got that," said Stephen Casey, one of the teen's attorneys. "We're glad that our client recognized that her unborn ***** had a right to live, and she wanted to protect that."
Casey and other attorneys with the Texas Center for the Defense of Life represented the teenager. This is the fourth lawsuit the organization has filed in the state on behalf of teens who are being ******* to have abortions, said Gregory Terra, president of the group. In one other, the case ended with a similar agreed order. In the other two, the group lost its fight.
After Monday's hearing, Jared Woodfill, an attorney appointed to protect the pregnant teen's rights, said minors filing for emancipation, to be treated as legal adults, are much more common than lawsuits pitting ***** against parent.
"It takes a lot of courage for a teen to stand up and sue their parents," Woodfill said. "This is very unusual."
Woodfill, chairman of the Harris County Republican Party, acted as mediator Monday, shuttling between conference rooms until both sides reached a settlement that was approved by state District Judge James Lombardino.
"There is shock when you find out that your 16-year-old is pregnant," Woodfill said. "Once tempers had cooled, folks adjusted to the reality that she is having a baby and she is their ********."
The girl's parents did not talk to reporters outside the courtroom Monday.
The pregnant teen also did not comment after the ruling. The ******, who is also 16, said he plans to marry his girlfriend and raise the *****.
