Alaska family files lawsuit over secret, government-funded abortion

Anchorage, Alaska, Apr 28, 2005 / 22:00 pm

The parents of a then 15-year old girl are suing an Alaska hospital whose social worker secretly flew her and her boyfriend to Seattle in March of 2003, on government money to have an abortion.

The social worker, affiliated with Providence Alaska Medical Center failed to notify the parents of their daughter’s pregnancy or the two-day trip.

After calling police to begin a search for their daughter, the parents, whose names are being withheld because of the sensitive nature of the situation, learned from an older daughter about the Seattle trip.

The Alaska House of Representatives passed legislation Wednesday to uphold state parental notification laws, which the state has failed to enforce, according to an article in the Anchorage Daily News.

Yale Metzger, attorney for the parents told the Daily News that, "Whether you agree or disagree with parental consent or parental notification, this isn't the right way."

But Karina Jennings, spokesperson for the Catholic Providence hospital, disagrees.

While pointing out that the hospital will not perform abortions themselves, they do often refer women to places that do. "We believe we followed good sound medical practice in this case,” she said.

The girl, now 17, says that she regrets having the abortion, and her parents have stressed that they would have helped to raise it.

The lawsuit also noted that although the girl told her boyfriend’s mother that her parents would not approve of the pregnancy, neither they, nor she, wanted the abortion.