'Have you recently had an abortion?' Australian transiting through US questioned then deported

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

‘Have you recently had an abortion?’ Australian transiting through US questioned then deported

Madolline Gourley says she was on her way to Canada for a holiday when US immigration officials intervened

Christopher Knaus
@knausc
Tue 12 Jul 2022 20.23 EDT
Last modified on Tue 12 Jul 2022 22.57 EDT

An Australian woman who planned to house-sit in Canada during a holiday has said she was detained, fingerprinted, interrogated about her abortion history and quickly deported during a stopover in the US.

Madolline Gourley, a Brisbane resident, says she was treated like a criminal during her transit through Los Angeles on 30 June, where she was detained at the border due to suspicions about her intention to house- and cat-sit in exchange for accommodation while holidaying in Canada.

Gourley was held in a detention room, interrogated twice, patted down, fingerprinted and photographed.

At one point a US border official asked Gourley, who was wearing a loose-fitting dress, whether she was pregnant. The same question was repeated as she was moved between rooms. When she again told the US officials she was not pregnant, Gourley was asked whether she had had an abortion.

-snip-

Asked about Gourley’s treatment, the CBP spokesperson said it took “allegations of unprofessional behaviour seriously”.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/13/have-you-recently-had-an-abortion-australian-transiting-through-us-questioned-then-deported

______________________________________________________________________

The house sitting deal broke the visa waiver rules, but the border agent's behavior was still outrageous.

[whathehell]

1. How 'bout "None of your fucking business"

as a reply?

[2naSalit]

4. +1

[calimary]

2. Did those schmucks get enough?

Last edited Thu Jul 14, 2022, 08:11 PM - Edit history (1)

Hey, they didn’t degrade her sufficiently. Why not slip in a quick pelvic exam while yer at it, ASSHOLES!

And YES. NONE of your DAMN BUSINESS!!!!!

[2naSalit]

3. ...

No fucking shit!

Glad she reported the incident.

[2naSalit]

5. Why were they even asking her that?

Is that even legal here?

At that point I would be questioning the questioner.

[wnylib]

6. It's not just an invasive question, but a stupid one.

Why would she travel to Canada through the US just to have an abortion when she could have got one in Australia?

[2naSalit]

7. Severely out of line...

I can't understand why she even answered the question.

[intheflow]

10. "Have you had an abortion" is a VERY invasive question.

What is wrong with you?

[wnylib]

11. What is wrong with your reading comprehension?

Are you familiar with the language construction of "not only....but also" that I used in my post? Apparently not, so let me explain.

It means "yes, that's true, but this is also true...."

In other words, in my post, I agreed that they were invasive questions and then added that they were also stupid ones and gave my reason why they are stupid in addition to being invasive.

[intheflow]

13. Ah, my apologies!

You'd think after 18 years on this site I'd have learned my lesson already about posting before the coffee kicks in. But apparently not!

[deported-cat-sitter]

14. Update

Apparently it is:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k8e7z/madolline-gourley-abortion-customs-and-border-protection-lax

I'm the lady this happened to. CBP keep changing their story—they said I was asked about 'loss of pregnancy', 'termination of pregnancy' and now we're back to 'pregnancy loss'. It was none of these things. I was asked: "Have you had a recent/recently had an abortion?"

[Habitation]

15. Welcome to DU! I'm so sorry this happened to you.

Thanks for sharing the article.

[deported-cat-sitter]

16. Another article

No problem! You'll see they said something totally different two weeks earlier:

A CBP spokesperson denied Gourley's allegations: 'We don't use the word abortion ever. We say termination of pregnancy'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11220181/CBP-denies-claims-asked-detained-woman-cat-sitting-LAX-Airport-abortion.html

[Scrivener7]

8. Not sure why, but I am finding this story fishy. Maybe bc it was in LA which

is not known as an evangelical stronghold. And her situation has nothing to do with any USA Visa program because she was going to be in Canada.

[SmittyWerben]

9. Agreed

This seems off.

[wnylib]

12. I wondered about all of those things, too.

[deported-cat-sitter]

17. It happened

See my reply to 2naSalit.

CBP have changed their story three or four times, but now they’re sticking with ‘loss of pregnancy’:
- https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k8e7z/madolline-gourley-abortion-customs-and-border-protection-lax
- https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/madolline-was-asked-about-abortion-by-us-customs-then-deported-this-is-her-warning-to-female-travellers/y19ffseoq