Judge dismisses wrongful death lawsuit over abortion
An Alabama judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf on an aborted embryo by a man who was upset that his ex-girlfriend ended her pregnancy. Madison County Circuit Judge Chris Comer ruled Friday that Ryan Magers could not bring a wrongful death claim over a legal abortion. Magers had sued the Alabama clinic where he believed his ex-girlfriend obtained the abortion pill, on behalf of himself and the estate of the aborted embryo. The Alabama case, which attempted to vest the embryo with legal rights, drew national attention in March after a probate judge allowed Magers to open a legal estate for the aborted embryo called “Baby Roe” in court filings. In seeking to open the estate, Magers pointed to a newly approved state constitutional amendment that says Alabama recognizes the “rights of unborn children.” The probate judge’s decision allowed Magers to represent the estate of the aborted embryo in the litigation. In the brief order, Comer wrote that Magers didn’t assert the defendants were engaged in unlawful conduct and the wrongful death claims are “precluded by existing state and federal laws pertaining to the conduct in question.” The ruling says that although Magers placed “great significance to the probate court’s” decision, Judge Comer found the probate court’s process “to be ministerial in nature.” The phrase means it follows a prescribed procedure. Magers and his then-girlfriend were both teenagers when she got pregnant in 2017, according to the lawsuit. Magers said the young woman had an abortion when she was about six weeks pregnant. The clinic, the Alabama Women’s Center, had asked for the case to be dismissed. A lawyer for the clinic told the judge during a July hearing that there was no wrongful death because abortion is legal. Dr. Yashica Robinson, an obstetrician who serves as the medical director of the clinic, called the lawsuit “thinly veiled attempts to abolish abortion, and to harass and intimidate abortion providers and women.” “We are elated that this attempt to push abortion care out of reach for women in Alabama was unsuccessful. Alabama Women’s Center remains committed to serving women in our state. We will continue to push back against all attacks on women’s rights to essential care!” Robinson wrote in a statement. J. Brent Helms, an attorney representing Magers, said they had anticipated the decision to dismiss the case. “We expected it would be dismissed at the trial court level. We knew we had to get to the appellate court level before we’d get traction,” Helms wrote in an email. He said Magers is weighing whether to appeal. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Father’s lawsuit against abortion provider spotlights Alabama’s “unborn rights”
In a case that spotlights Alabama’s state policy recognizing “the rights of unborn children,” a judge is deciding whether to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of an aborted embryo against the clinic where his ex-girlfriend obtained an abortion. WHNT-TV reports Madison County District Judge Chris Comer heard arguments in Ryan Magers’ lawsuit during a hearing Wednesday but did not rule. Magers is serving as representative of the aborted embryo’s estate in the lawsuit against the Alabama Women’s Center in Huntsville. A probate judge earlier this year took the unusual step of opening an estate for the aborted embryo, known as “Baby Roe” in court filings, after Magers’ attorney cited a newly approved Alabama constitutional amendment saying its state policy to recognize the “rights of unborn children.” A lawyer for the clinic told the judge Wednesday that there is no wrongful death because abortion is legal. The clinic has asked the judge to dismiss the case. “The bottom line here is that this is a simple case. They have sued for the wrongful death of an embryo and at the time that that happened abortion was legal in Alabama and still is,” said Sara Tucker, an attorney representing the clinic. Magers and his then-girlfriend were both teenagers when she got pregnant in 2017. The suit says Magers pleaded with the young woman not to have an abortion but she did so anyway. The suit names the clinic where Magers contends his former girlfriend received an abortion-inducting medication when she was six weeks pregnant. Magers’ attorney, Brent Helms, said, “there’s never been a case like this in the United States of America.” “For the first time in the history of America the aborted child has been able to move forward with this case,” Helms said. In court filings, Helm’s cited the constitutional amendment that Alabama recognizes the rights of the “unborn” and the state’s recent attempt to ban abortions. Helms said, “the state of Alabama recognized that Baby Roe is a person.” Comer told the parties in court that regardless of what he decides he expects his decision will be appealed. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Senate passes bill banning abortion clinics located near schools
On Tuesday, the Alabama Senate passed a bill that would prohibit abortion clinics from being within 2,000 feet of a school, which will directly impact a clinic in Huntsville stationed across the street from Edward H. White Middle School. The Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives moved to its current location in 2014 when it was forced to vacate its old location to comply with the Women’s Health and Safety Act, HB57, which required that clinics meet “all ambulatory health care occupancy standards.” The new facility is near Huntsville Hospital’s emergency room, which puts it in compliance with the law’s requirements. SB205 from Sen. Paul Sanford (R-Huntsville) directs the Alabama Department of Public Health not to reissue licenses for any clinic within 2,000 feet of a school, effectively closing down the Huntsville clinic in its new location. “If we currently protect a physical buffer between students and liquor stores, it is common sense that we would protect them from attending school near an abortion clinic,” Sanford said in a statement release Tuesday. “This will not mandate any abortion clinic to shut down, but I have no problem if it forces a clinic or two to move away from our kids.” With passage of the bill, Alabama will become one of the first states in the nation to have a school proximity provision for abortion clinics. “Abortion clinics can attract unrest and protest – from people on both sides of the issue – and therefore can pose a public safety risk to young students,” Sanford added in the release. “Having an abortion clinic so close to an elementary school that children are required to walk on the sidewalk past the clinic is not in their best interest.” An floor amendment changed the bill to where a clinic could stay open if a school is built near an already-operating facility.
