Alabama man sues abortion clinic after girlfriend terminates fetus
A teenager is allowed to sue his girlfriend on behalf of an aborted fetus, an Alabama probate court said.
Ryan Magers, who is from Madison County, claims his girlfriend terminated her pregnancy (she was six weeks along) in Feb. 2017, according to legal documents. The 19-year-old said the medication abortion went against his wishes and he apparently begged her not to do it.
In January, Judge Frank Barger allowed Magers to be a “personal representative” to the fetus’s estate and name the aborted child, known as “Baby Roe,” as a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives in Huntsville. This decision came four months after the state passed a law that gave fetuses the same legal rights as any other person.
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“Baby Roe’s innocent life was taken by the profiteering of the Alabama Women’s Center and while no court will be able to bring Baby Roe back to life, we will seek the fullest extent of justice on behalf of Baby Roe and Baby Roe’s father,” Attorney Brent Helms said in a statement. “The time is ripe for consistency in Alabama’s jurisprudence: either we fully acknowledge the personhood of the unborn or we cherry pick which innocents we protect and which ones we trash for profit.”
The teen’s attorney believes the case could make it to the Alabama Supreme Court. “This is the first estate that I’m aware of that has ever been opened for an aborted baby,” Helms told WAAY 31. “We are confident, and this is a step in the right direction.”
Breaking: Alabama allows a suit from man AND fetus against abortion clinic where his girlfriend terminated her pregnancy. First under Alabama's new personhood law, asserting woman's rights third in line. Very scary case. https://t.co/xXCSyJN3AQ
— ilyse hogue (@ilyseh) March 5, 2019
Ilyse Hogue, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, called it a “very scary case” that is “asserting woman’s rights third in line” on Twitter.
The Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives has until April 1 to respond to the lawsuit.
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