There was a small victory for the pregnant teen on Tuesday, when the judge granted a temporary restraining order against her parents. At the same time, the judge asked Child Protective Services to investigate her mom and dad.
Stephen Casey is one of several attorney's working to help a 16-year-old pregnant Houston-area girl fight an abortion she claims her parents are trying to force upon her. On Tuesday, a civil court judge granted a temporary restraining order against the teen's mom and dad.
"She is legally protected so they cannot drag her to an abortion clinic and force and abortion on our client. And that was the relief we were looking for," Casey said.
This controversial case centers around the teen's legally protected right to make her own reproductive choices and the lengths, lawyers say, her parents are allegedly going to coerce her into terminating the pregnancy.
"Yanking her our of school for weeks, and sending her to a relatives house to try to get her to change her mind, threats of slipping her an abortion pill. And there's been threats of physical violence, that I'm going to make you do this and I'm not going to take no for an answer," Casey said.
The girl's parents didn't show up in court on Tuesday but the judge did announced he's asked CPS to investigate them.
On Monday, when we spoke with the girl's father, he didn't want to go on camera, but he denied the allegations.
The unborn child's paternal grandfather did show up in court. He's joining the case as an advocate for the pregnant teen. He says his family is prepared to support the girl, his son and their baby.
"It was an unexpected pregnancy, but we don't want that lapse in judgment to be compounded by the emotional trauma she'll suffer for the rest of her life from having a forced abortion by her parents and the death to her unborn child," Casey said.
All sides, including the girl's parents, are scheduled to be back in court for an injunction hearing Friday afternoon.
___________________________________________________________
Take ABC13 with you!
Download our free apps for iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry devices
