Washington: the Supreme Court on Monday let stand a lower court's ruling that female inmates have a constitutional right to abortions off the jail grounds.
The case involved an Arizona woman who wanted a first-trimester abortion, but was refused transportation by corrections officials in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. The county appealed a lower court decision in favor of the woman.
The county's policy banned off-site "elective medical procedures" without a court order. County officials said they provided transportation only for procedures they deemed "medically necessary." A state court ruled that was an "exaggerated response" to the inmate's request.
The Supreme Court justices without comment refused to decide if the county's policy violated a woman's due process rights.
The county must now revise its policy to allow women easier access to abortions off jail grounds. A similar case in Missouri is expected to reach the Supreme Court in coming months.
The inmate in this case, listed in court papers under the pseudonym "Jane Doe," found out she was pregnant just after she had been sentenced in 2004 to four months in the county jail for driving while intoxicated.
Doe, then 19, immediately requested an abortion, but corrections officers said they would drive her to a nearby clinic only if she had a court order.
It took seven weeks to obtain the order, and her lawyers complained Doe faced "repeated obstacles." After undergoing the abortion, she then filed a complaint. A state appeals court eventually found the county's policy placed an "undue burden" on pregnant inmates seeking abortions.
The Supreme Court established that legal standard more than a quarter-century ago when when states were considering limiting women's access to abortion.
That state court noted certain prisoner rights could be curtailed in the name of safety and efficiency inside a corrections facility. But the judges said that in this case, prison resources would not have been affected, since Doe had agreed to pay for the transportation and medical costs herself.
And taking prisoners off-campus is a routine procedure, the state court said.
"The county regularly transports inmates for court appearances, compassionate visits and non-emergency, medically necessary treatment," said the court. "Transportation for abortion services are a negligible fraction of the overall transportation the county performs each year."
The Supreme Court three years ago allowed a single inmate in Missouri to have the procedure at a state-contracted facility off penitentiary grounds. The state was ordered to provide transportation.
After that case, a federal appeals court in St. Louis in January upheld the overall right of female inmates to be transported at state expense for elective abortions. The Missouri appeal has not yet reached the high court, but is expected to be filed by the summer.
The case announced Monday is Arpaio v. Doe (07-839).
Source: PUSH Journal, 24 March 2008