Teenager sues abortion clinic after girlfriend terminates baby
A teenager is suing an abortion clinic on behalf of his unborn child who he said was terminated against his wishes.
Ryan Magers, 19, claims his girlfriend terminated her pregnancy when she was six weeks’ pregnant, even though he begged her not to, according to legal documents.
In the first lawsuit of its kind, Magers is suing on behalf of the aborted foetus “Baby Roe” and himself in an Alabama court in the US, Fox News reported.
“Baby Roe’s innocent life was taken by the profiteering of the Alabama Women’s Centre 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.”
Judge Frank Barger allowed the teeagern to name his aborted child as a co-plaintiff in his case against the women’s clinic four months after the state passed a law that gave fetuses the same legal rights as any other person.
The teen’s attorney believed the case could make it to the Alabama Supreme Court.
The case has alarmed pro-choice activists who say it undermines women’s rights.
Magers has told ABC affiliate WAAY31: “I’m here for the men who actually want to have their baby. I believe every child from conception is a baby and deserves to live.”
“Even though there’s nothing I can do for the situation I was in, there is something I can do for the future situations for other people.”
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 abortion clinic, Alabama Women’s Centre for Reproductive Alternatives, in Huntsville has until April 1 to respond to the lawsuit.
