Court Sides With Texas Teen Against Forced Abortion

‘This is a tremendous victory, and another life has been saved,’ says a state pro-life leader.

(photo: Shutterstock)

HOUSTON — A pregnant Texas 16-year-old on Monday won a legal injunction against her parents, whom she accused of trying to coerce her into an abortion.

“This is a tremendous victory, and another life has been saved,” said Greg Terra, president of the Texas Center for Defense of Life, on Feb. 18.

“We are extremely happy with the judge’s decision today, and we are very proud of our teenage client for being strong enough to stand against her parents to save her unborn child’s life.”

Attorneys from Terra’s organization are representing the teen.

After the legal injunction, the Harris County teenager, identified in court documents only as R.E.K., reached an agreement with her parents to allow her to marry her 16-year-old boyfriend, Evan Madison.

“Emotionally and stressfully, it’s been tough,” Madison told My Fox News Houston. “We’ve had fights and arguments over all of this and what will happen next because her parents are very unpredictable.”

The teen is about two months pregnant. The teen’s parents have agreed to return her car, pay her cellphone bill and pay half of her health insurance. The teen is presently living with her mother.

Terra said that Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court Decision that legalized abortion nationwide, also protects a teenage girl’s “absolute legal right to choose life, even over the strong objections, pressure and punishments of her parents.”

The teen’s lawsuit charges that her mother invited her baby’s paternal grandparents to a bar and “suggested that she might slip her an abortion pill through deception.” The young woman claims her father told her “he was going to take her to have an abortion and that the decision was his -- end of story.”

Elizabeth Graham, director of Texas Right to Life, told EWTN News on Feb. 14 that other women find themselves pressured to have abortions.

Her organization “probably takes one or two calls a month” from women, particularly minors, who feel coerced into having abortions.

Graham said her organization is “very proud” that the teenager “wants to protect her own life and the life of her unborn child.”