AUSTIN, Texas — Alliance Defense Fund allied attorneys representing a 16-year-old girl secured a temporary restraining order Monday from a Texas court that blocks her parents from forcing her to have an abortion against her will.
On two occasions, the teenager’s mother literally dragged her to local abortion facilities, including International Healthcare Solutions and Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region, demanding that her daughter terminate the life of her child. Though she refused and the child’s father also does not want the baby killed, her parents continued to insist that they will force her to have the abortion. The court’s order prevents that from happening.
“No one should be allowed to decide that an innocent life–especially one that belongs to someone else–is worthless. The right not to have an abortion is protected by law, and this right isn’t relinquished just because someone else considers the child to be an unwanted burden,” said Stephen Casey of Round Rock, one of more than 1,800 attorneys in the ADF alliance. Casey and another ADF-allied attorney, Gregory R. Terra of Georgetown, filed the motion for the restraining order together with Allan E. Parker of The Justice Foundation in San Antonio.
The 16-year-old high school student, who is carrying a 13-week-old pre-born child, was even more confirmed in her decision against having an abortion after receiving information from a pro-life prayer worker outside one of the abortion facilities to which her mother dragged her. The Justice Foundation’s Center Against Forced Abortion and the two ADF-allied attorneys working with the Texas Alliance for Life and the Austin Coalition for Life coordinated efforts on the girl’s behalf to file a motion for a temporary restraining order on Sunday. The court granted it Monday. She is still living with her parents.
“This situation illustrates what a difference it can make when a woman is more fully informed about the true nature of abortion,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “We intend to fully support this young woman in her desire to allow her child to live.”
The motion for the temporary restraining order was filed by ADF-allied attorneys in the District Court of Travis County. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 28 to consider a motion to convert the temporary restraining order into a temporary injunction.
