MO Must Take Inmates to Abortion Clinics

January 22, 2008

MO Must Take Inmates to Abortion Clinics

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 3:41 p.m. ET

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The state of Missouri must provide transportation to

abortion clinics for inmates who want to undergo the procedure, a federal

appeals panel ruled Tuesday.

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the state had to allow a specific

inmate, listed as Jane Roe, to have an abortion after the state tried to end

the practice of driving prisoners to clinics for elective abortions.

The American Civil Liberties Union then sought a federal ruling making the

high court's decision a class-action on behalf of all imprisoned pregnant

women in the state.

U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple in 2006 ruled the state must allow pregnant

inmates to have abortions and transport them to facilities that perform the

procedure. Tuesday's decision by the three-judge panel of the 8th U.S.

Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the lower court ruling.

''The court recognized that the right to elect to have an abortion survives

incarceration,'' said Tony Rothert, legal director of the American Civil

Liberties Union's St. Louis office. ''This was about providing women with

the opportunity to exercise their choice even though they were

incarcerated.''

It wasn't clear if the state would appeal. Calls seeking comment from

Attorney General Jay Nixon and Gov. Matt Blunt were not immediately

returned.

The ruling came on the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade

decision, which established a nationwide right to abortion.

At a hearing in September, attorneys for the state argued security concerns

and the state's limited resources outweighed a female offender's right to an

abortion. Inmates are denied certain freedoms, including ''the right to

procreate, vote and travel,'' Assistant Attorney General Michael Pritchett

told the panel at the time.

But the ACLU said the state exaggerated its security concerns and has shown

an ability to safely transport inmates to an abortion clinic in St. Louis

despite the presence of protesters.