Prison Official Resigns After Bosses Deny Inmate Abortion

'Jane Roe' had to sue to get the procedure, which took place Tuesday in Nebraska

By Jenn Gidman, Newser Staff
Posted Apr 14, 2021 9:20 AM CDT

(NEWSER) - A Nebraska inmate who fought to have an abortion was finally granted one, but not before a legal battle with corrections officials, one of whom ended up resigning due to the prison's initial denial of her request. Per the AP, the 22-year-old inmate, referred to as "Jane Roe," filed a civil rights lawsuit on Friday, noting she arrived at York's Nebraska Correctional Center for Women on Feb. 18 to start serving a 26-month sentence and asked for an abortion at the end of March. In her complaint, Roe says she was told by officials on April 2 that a technicality had her inmate account frozen for 21 days--meaning she couldn't access funds to pay for the abortion--and that it would be too late under Nebraska law to get the procedure by the time the account was unfrozen. Roe filed her suit after she'd arranged for other funds and still had her request denied. Roe's mother says her daughter became pregnant as the result of forced sex, per the Omaha World-Herald.

On Monday, a federal judge directed prison officials to take Roe to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Lincoln for "informed consent" counseling, followed by transport to the clinic on Tuesday for the abortion itself. The clinic only performs abortions up to 16.5 weeks of pregnancy; Roe was 16 weeks pregnant as of Tuesday. She was required to pay for the abortion herself, as well as put up the $355 for the state to take her to the clinic and guard her. An attorney for the ACLU of Nebraska, which filed the complaint on Roe's behalf, says the prison's initial denial of her request was "wrong and unlawful," per Courthouse News. Hayden Thomas, a 27-year-old Nebraska corrections official who resigned over the case before the judge's ruling, agrees. "How can we possibly claim the moral authority to incarcerate others for forsaking the rule of law if we ourselves fail to uphold it?" he wrote in his resignation letter, per the World-Herald. (Read more abortion stories.)

Nebraska corrections official resigns in protest over decision to deny inmate's abortion

Paul Hammel Apr 14, 2021 Updated 3 hrs ago

LINCOLN -- A Nebraska corrections official has resigned over the department's denial of an inmate's request for an abortion, calling the decision "reprehensible," and both morally and legally wrong. ... Hayden Thomas, who had served as the Americans With Disabilities Act coordinator with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services since 2019, said it was clear that the woman had a constitutional right to access an abortion, but the agency chose to ignore the case law.

"How can we possibly claim the moral authority to incarcerate others for forsaking the rule of law if we ourselves fail to uphold it and instead choose to engage in acts of public corruption or administrative malfeasance?" Thomas wrote in his resignation letter, which was obtained by The World-Herald. ... Public servants, he added, have a "special obligation" to implement the law "without regard to political preference, personal bias or administrative expediency."

The department declined to comment on the letter, which was addressed to State Corrections Director Scott Frakes. A department spokeswoman said Tuesday that corrections does not comment on personnel issues. ... Thomas submitted his resignation early Monday, just before a federal judge's approval of an emergency request requiring prison officials to provide transportation for the inmate from the state women's prison in York to an abortion clinic in Lincoln.

The woman, 22, became pregnant before entering prison in February, and, according to her mother, sought an abortion because she had become pregnant by forced sex. The inmate had already made appointments for an "informed consent" consultation on Monday and the procedure on Tuesday. ... On Monday, state lawyers with the Nebraska Attorney General's Office reached a settlement with the ACLU of Nebraska, which filed a lawsuit on behalf of the woman, who was identified as "Jane Roe" in the lawsuit. In it, the state agreed to provide transportation for the woman to the Lincoln Planned Parenthood clinic.

Roe's family agreed to pay all medical costs directly to Planned Parenthood. The court ordered the family to pay $355 in advance to cover all transportation and security costs incurred by the state for the two trips. ... The state, in the settlement agreement, said its compromise did not mean it agreed with the woman's legal arguments. State health care rules for inmates bar the use of state funds to facilitate an abortion.

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POLITICS

Judge orders Nebraska to transport prisoner for abortion

By GRANT SCHULTE, Associated Press
Apr 12, 2021 3:58 PM CDT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- A federal judge on Monday granted a Nebraska prisoner's request for an abortion and ordered state officials to transport her to a clinic so she can get the procedure on Tuesday, but the inmate will have to pay for the procedure herself and cover the state's costs to transport and guard her.

Prison officials had previously rejected the woman's request for an abortion, prompting her to file a civil rights lawsuit on Friday with with support from the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska. ... U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bataillon ordered prison officials to transport the inmate to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Lincoln for "informed consent" counseling on Monday, as required by state law, and back to the clinic on Tuesday to have the procedure done.

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The 22-year-old inmate, identified in the lawsuit as Jane Roe, was 15 weeks and 6 days pregnant as of Monday. According to her lawsuit, she arrived at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York on Feb. 18 to serve a 26-month sentence. ... The Lincoln Planned Parenthood only offers abortions who are up to 16 1/2 weeks pregnant, according to the lawsuit, and the lawsuit said the health risks increase the longer the inmate waits. Nebraska bans abortion after 22 weeks, except in rare cases when a woman's life is at risk.

According to the lawsuit, Roe initially asked prison officials for an abortion in late March. Prison officials met with her on April 2 and told her she wouldn't be able to get the abortion because of a prison policy that puts a 21-day freeze on large amounts of money that are deposited into inmate accounts, and it would be too late for her have the procedure done after 21 days. ... Roe made other arrangements to pay for the abortion but her request was formally denied in writing on April 8, according to the lawsuit.

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