A pregnant Texas teen who is unmarried has won her court case allowing her to keep her child, rather than submit to an abortion as her parents preferred.
The judge in the case brought by the daughter of Denise and Jeffrey Koen decided to grant an injunction against the parents’ meddling that will last until the baby is born. The judge also allowed the girl to go back to school, work, and medical appointments; she had not been allowed to go to school after she said she wouldn’t abort the baby while she was forced to work two jobs.
The parents had been desperate enough to end the pregnancy that the mother suggested to her husband’s parents that she might “slip her daughter an abortion pill through deception.” Denise had insisted the abortion be performed; Jeffrey had told his daughter that the only option was for his daughter to have an abortion.
Greg Terra, the girl’s lawyer and president of the Texas Center for Defense of Life, was jubilant, stating:
This is a tremendous victory and another life has been saved.Our victory today stands for the principle that ‘choice’ goes both ways. Under Roe v. Wade and post-Roe cases, a teenage girl has the absolute legal right to choose life, even over the strong objections, pressure, and punishments of her parents. We are very proud of our teenage client for being strong enough to stand against her parents to save her unborn child’s life.
According to the judge’s injunction, the Koens will have to pay for half of the hospital bills when the baby comes, unless their daughter marries her boyfriend, who fathered the child. Stephen Casey, chief counsel with the Texas Center for Defense of Life, said the two plan to marry.
The young girl has been living with her paternal grandparents, who have consented to help as caretakers after the child is born.
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