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GUEST WORDS--Jane Doe, the 17-year-old pregnant immigrant girl held hostage and harassed for six weeks by rabid anti-choice Trump officials in Texas acting out an obscene dystopian drama in which they would force her to give birth, has received an abortion - or in the words of Jane's Due Process, "Jane has gotten justice."
Before being awarded her Constitutional rights, she was held by the feds in a detention center for unaccompanied minors, forced to make four court appearances, had her privacy rights violated when officials told her abusive parents who had beaten her pregnant sister so badly she miscarried, subjected to unwanted religious counseling and viewings of her sonagram images, blocked from seeing her lawyers and court-appointed guardian, and made to face the doubled risk, pain and duration of a 2nd-trimester abortion procedure - all while "pro-life" cretins hoped to drag out the case long enough to make that procedure illegal, after which they could have her and her newborn baby deported. Because all life is sacred, right?
Thankfully, multiple courts - state, federal, panel of appeal judges and full appeals court - all stepped up to say Jane Doe was entitled to have an abortion and it's none of the government's business and leave this poor girl alone.
After the final ruling, the ACLU moved to expedite the procedure, heading off a potential appeal to the Supreme Court by obsessed cultural warriors. Now, Jane Doe has spoken out about her ordeal, explaining she came here "with hope in my heart to build a life I can be proud of. I dream about studying, becoming a nurse, and one day working with the elderly."
Certain she was "not ready to be a parent," she was confronted by "people I don’t even know (trying) to make me change my mind." "I made my decision and that is between me and God," she insists. "No one should be shamed for making the right decision for themselves."
Alas, many still are: Advocates warn that the ghouls at ICE will continue to carry out atrocities against women and other "bad hombres" - they are currently stalking a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who just had gallbladder surgery - really - in the ongoing war against immigrants and women.
Give to Jane's Due Process, give to the irreplaceable ACLU, and like Jane herself, never give in.
(Guest columnist Abby Zimet offers her insight daily at the popular Common Dreams … where this perspective was first posted.)
-cw
