— After a hearing in court today, a Pennsylvania judge blocked a woman from exercising her legal right to choose abortion, in complete disregard of legal precedent. The woman was scheduled to obtain an abortion yesterday until her former boyfriend filed a lawsuit to force her to carry the pregnancy to term and the judge agreed to an injunction pending today's hearing. Judge Michael Conahan of Luzerne County is requiring attorneys to submit additional legal papers this Monday, thereby extending the length of her pregnancy. He indicated that there is no guarantee the injunction will be dissolved at that time.
"Allowing this injunction to remain in place indefinitely is unconstitutional and a threat to my client's health. It's outrageous that it was even granted in the first place," said Linda Rosenthal, a staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights and lead counsel on the case. "Under federal and Pennsylvania state law, no person has the right to veto an adult woman’s decision to terminate her pregnancy, let alone her abusive ex-boyfriend," added Rosenthal.
The Pennsylvania woman, 22 and the mother of a two-year-old considered all of her options before making the decision to terminate the pregnancy. Her former boyfriend, John Stachokus, repeatedly threatened her physical safety and as a result she successfully obtained a Temporary Protection from Abuse Order on July 29, 2002.
U.S. Supreme Court precedent establishes that a pregnant woman’s right to privacy precludes anyone from preventing her from terminating a pregnancy prior to viability of the fetus. In 1976, the Court first held that a statute requiring spousal consent before a woman could obtain an abortion violated the right to choose previously established in Roe v. Wade. The Court reiterated its ruling in the 1992 Casey decision and emphasized that the man’s interest in the fetus could never outweigh the pregnant woman’s liberty interest.
Representing the respondent in the case Stachokus v. Meyers are Linda Rosenthal and Adrienne Lockie of the Center for Reproductive Rights, and local counsel Brian Cali. The Women's Law Project is Of Counsel in the case.
