Girl in state care ends pregnancy

[rebecca_herman]

WEST PALM BEACH — A 13-year-old foster child ended her pregnancy Tuesday, hours after Gov. Jeb Bush ordered the state to stop all intervention in her case.

A juvenile court judge cleared the way for the girl's abortion in a final hearing Tuesday morning. The girl was taken to a clinic soon afterward, said her attorney, Maxine Williams of Palm Beach County's Legal Aid Society.

The 13-year-old, known by her initials L.G., had no complications, Williams said late Tuesday.

"She was relieved. And ready to get it over with," she said.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2005/05/04/m1a_abortion_0504.html

I'm glad the poor girl finally got what she wanted.

[brokensymmetry]

1. I agree.....but

what I cannot understand is why there was even a discussion. Why would anyone deny a THIRTEEN YEAR OLD an abortion?

There are things that leave me shaking my head. This is one of them.

[Selatius]

2. Politics and religion. It's a bad combination

[Sivafae]

28. ^Yep, the last time that happened, people got burned at the stake. N/T

[rodeodance]

3. there was a "discussion" simply cause we live in Bush Amerika

[Ganja Ninja]

4. What we ought to be discussing is how a 13 year old girl ...

under the care of Jeb Bush's department of children & families winds up pregnant in the first place.

[politicat]

6. reaching out for the only affection she's ever known?

It happens.... To quote a famous anti-polygamy activist, "It got to the point where the only time I felt loved was when I had a penis in my vagina."

The girl's not a polygamous wife, but her situation is equally emotionally barren. Group homes are often the worst possible combination of dysfunctional family and orphanage..... heavily regulated, quasi-governmental, and frustrating for everyone involved.

[Maat]

52. This retired social worker couldn't have said it better ...

about the group homes.

[politicat]

58. There's a reason I'm a barely practicing adolescent psychologist....

And they're probably similar to the relief you felt when you retired....

[Maat]

68. LOL!

I felt ENORMOUS relief when I retired.

Blessings and abundance to you!

Gosh, thinking back to working with adolescents (head hurting now) ...

O.K. - enough of that!

[rebecca_herman]

7. It says how she got pregnant in the full article

She ran away (guess they weren't watching her) and she ended up living for a time with a 28 year old man who had sex with her. It was her mother, who lost custody, who finally found the girl. Seems like she's a better parent then DCF who took her daughter away!

[MaineDem]

10. Has he been arrested?

I assume it's still statutory rape in FL.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[rebecca_herman]

18. No arrest yet

Her mother claims she called to report the statutory rape after she found her daughter. DCF seems to have no knowledge of anything being reported. Stupid Florida.

[cally]

22. I'm livid

The girl obviously contacted her mother for help when she ran away who stepped in and helped her. I don't know why the mother lost custody but she was a much greater help to her daughter than DCF. Let the mother have some supervised and limited custody so the daughter has a parent who cares and can support her. Maybe the mother is unable to take full responsibility but she did intervene. Every child needs to know that someone is there for them.

Fuck Florida state government.

Edited to add excerpt from above linked article:


L.G. is unhappy in foster care and has repeatedly run away.

The last time she ran away, she was gone for nearly a month. The agency notified police near the group home she left in Pinellas County, but Alvarez was infuriated that the court wasn't notified that she was missing. The state, he said, should have done more to find her instead of rushing into court once she was pregnant.

Her mother said L.G. told her a 28- or 30-year-old man picked her up from the streets, gave her alcohol and drugs and had sex with her at his house. The Palm Beach Post is not naming the mother to protect L.G.'s identity.

The woman said she called the police to report a statutory rape, furious that the state considered her an unfit parent but then failed to protect her daughter from a man she believes exploited her.

[rebecca_herman]

23. Yes

Her mother is clearly more fit to raise her than DCF, whatever her mother may have done in the past.

From another article:

The teen has run from state foster care at least five times and was gone for a month the last time when she became pregnant.

Her biological mother, who lives in West Palm Beach and lost her rights to L.G. in 2001, said L.G. called her on a borrowed cellphone, then a pay phone in February. She had run away from her group home on the west coast of Florida and wanted to come home, her former mother said.

The West Palm Beach woman, whom The Palm Beach Post is not identifying to protect L.G.'s identity, is barred from living with her biological daughter. Detectives often call her when L.G. runs away to ask whether she has heard from the girl.

But she said she couldn't leave L.G. in danger, so she drove to the west coast to look for her. She found her on the streets at 3 a.m.

L.G. told her she had been living with a 28- or 30-year-old man who lived just blocks from the state home and took her in when she ran away.

The woman said she called law enforcement to report a statutory rape.

"I'm angry at the extremes they go to to keep her from me, yet they don't keep her away from sexual predators," she said.

She knew immediately that L.G. was pregnant.

"I said, '(L.G.), have you been having sex?' and she said, 'No, Mama, I'm still a virgin.' I said '(L.G.), look at me, honey. Your complexion is going. You're throwing up. You can't hold nothing down. You're pregnant.' "

The woman said she later acknowledged to law enforcement that she had found L.G. The girl returned to a state home at the end of February.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2005/05/03/m1a_abortion_0503.html

[cally]

29. I'm even more angry...the child is better off with the mother

and I say that without needing to know what the mother did in the past. Maybe she needs state supervision but she needs her mom in her life. She's the one the child asks for help and trusts.

[FreedomAngel82]

55. From what I heard/read

the mother lost custody because of abuse and neglect.

[penicillin]

30. Partly the culture to blame

As a medical Student in the early 1990's, I was the 'attending' when a 13y/o child delivered her baby. I met her Mom and Dad in the labor room prior to going to the Delivery room (delivered here because high risk at 13). It was an uneventful delivery of a little girl and an hour or two later I was in the Post-partum recovery and the girl's Mom and Dad where there with another 30-something year old guy celebrating, taking pictures, and sucking on stogies (not smoking them yet). Since only immediate family was allowed there I asked the nurse who the other guy was. She stated it was her Father. I said that I thought the other guy was her father, and the nurse corrected me that the other 30-something old guy was the little baby girls father. The two men where good friends.
As long as family, and therefore society, is willing to accept such an event, and children think it is OK to have sex and babies, it will continue to happen.
That being said, the state had an interest only because she was a ward of the state. Otherwise the government should never be intruding into peoples private medical matters.

[MountainLaurel]

51. You've got a point

My parents had a neighbor in the early 90s who was in his late 50s when he got the 15-year-old across the street pregnant. Her parents were pleased as punch: Not only did he have a good jobs (rare in a depressed WV coal town), but he also had a pension from the mines.

:eyes:

Although in this case, it's probably less of an issue, 'cause the girl's mother was not pleased to find her living with an older guy, and brought her back to FL.

[FreedomAngel82]

56. Wow

That's just disgusting I think.

[MountainLaurel]

65. Nope, it is pretty disgusting

But pretty much par for the course with that family.

[Maat]

57. I happen to know of a similar case.

Social Worker was interviewing a 14-year-old who had given birth recently at her home; the parents of Ms. 14 were there. Ms. 14 was holding her stomach; there was some discomfort. She was receiving adequate medical care.

Anyway, up the drive comes 30ish Romeo with flowers looking for some more fun.

Social Worker's blood began to boil.

Shortly thereafter, by coincidence, the police arrived and took Romeo into custody.

Hehehe .. I wonder who that social worker was.

[Ganja Ninja]

11. So it's another failure for Jeb's DCF.

Not that the media would pay attention to that aspect of the story.

[FreedomAngel82]

54. A 28 yr old man?!

That's just so wrong on so many levels. Are they going to do anything about that? Since he was having sex with a minor. I'm glad the mother found her.

[rebecca_herman]

69. who knows?

the mother said she reported the statutory rape. Who knows if they are actually going to do anything. Stupid Florida!

[SemperEadem]

47. perhaps there is a mindset

that believes that it would be effective 'punishment' for her to have to face the rigors of labor because she had sex out of wedlock.

[FreedomAngel82]

53. The thing that gets me

is that they said she's too immature to have an abortion. So she is mature enough to have a baby? My God. :crazy: These people are fucked up and so backwards. All they care about is the fetus. Why not work to help people get health care? And where were the adults that let her keep running away?

[nashville_brook]

5. it's criminal, what jeb did to her... and not just the

public flogging of her reproductive health needs. i have friends in dept of human services in florida. it's outrageous what they are doing to these kids -- and how their dept has been cut. basically, there's NO ONE following clients one on one. kids in the system are all just numbers and the social workers who used to look after them have been moved to the "administrative" and "fraud" divisions.

child services is bascially a mill for creating human misery. it's abhorrent.

[noonwitch]

31. I work in the same program in Michigan

Lots of teenaged girls in the foster care system end up pregnant. It's partly the damage done to these kids before we get them, and also a result of not having the appropriate treatment programs for girls. We can't lock up foster care children/teens, but are expected to keep them out of trouble, yet place them in the most family like setting possible. Teen girls are impossible sometimes-they are frequently promiscuous, frequently have developmental delays (mental retardation/grown-up crack babies/FAS), and almost always have low self-esteem that makes them particularly vulnerable to predatory men. In Michigan, we have parental consent laws. I don't know how our agency would handle a case like this at this time-in the pre-Engler days, we would have helped her arrange an abortion, but during his 12 years, we weren't even supposed to discuss contraception or condoms with the kids (although everyone did). Medicaid does not cover abortion here, either, but PP usually can assist for free in cases like this.

Our system has a better worker to kid ration than Florida, but when I first started out in 1987, we were in the same shape, as were most children's services programs across the country. The Clinton administration sent funds to states to improve their programs. We also looked to states that were doing it well (Minnesota, mainly) and put some of their more effective programs into place. We got computers in the 90s, new offices, and more foster care staff to lower caseloads. In Michigan, the republicans, as much as I hate to admit it, also helped make improving the foster care system a priority. I disagree with some of what they did, but our system is working a lot better now. I have 25 cases. In 1988, I had 65.

[GOPFighter]

37. Thanks for your post, noonwitch

It was very informatitive. I can't tell you how important I think your work is. These kids are among the most vulnerable in our society. My heart goes out to them, and you for the frustration you must suffer sometimes. O8)

[Beetwasher]

8. Thank Goodness! Now Let's Hope Jebby Gets Severe Backlash From EVERYONE!

He should get backlash from people w/ brains for even THINKING about intervening, and he should get backlash from the fundies because he caved and *gasp* allowed someone to have an abortion.

[oneighty]

36. Do you have an opinion why?

It is very curious that he gave up without a fight.

180

[rocktivity]

39. I think Jeb backed down because he feared a replay of Terri Schiavo

He attempted to intervene by sending the state police to size custody of Terri, but the state police tipped off the local police and the local police tipped off Michael Schiavo husband, and the judge had to issue an extra special restraining order. It wouldn't help Jeb's presidential aspirations if someone took it upon himself to "look into" that little drama. He's already got one court order violation on his record, and his approval ratings don't need to go any lower.

:headbang:
rocknation

[oneighty]

43. Agreed

It also might have raised questions concerning other underage charges of the state having abortions on demand.

This is one abortion that fool wanted to disappear from the news like right now.

180

[demo dutch]

62. No I think he feared that the total mismanagement of "his' DCF

dept would get national attention. Schiavo was easy in the sense that he couldn't be blamed for anything. This case if different, it is directly connected with Jeb. Plus the failure of his buddy who ran the dept for awhile and resigned last year would probably also get some some press attention.

[UCLA Dem]

9. Good for her. Hopefully she will learn from this and make better choices.

[slackmaster]

12. That's exactly how I feel about it

My parental instincts kick in whenever I hear about a young person in trouble. Teenagers make tough subjects to be good parents for. Letting them make and learn from their own mistakes goes against the urge to nurture and protect them, but sometimes it's the best thing you can do for them in the long run.

[Brooklyn Michael]

13. Bush: "...too young and immature to end her pregnancy."

...says the chimp's brother. Meanwhile, in her own words, the girl explains her decision:

"Why can't I make my own decision? What is it that you don't understand? I don't think I should have the baby because I'm 13, I'm in a shelter and I can't get a job."

........(tap, tap, tap)....well, Jeb? We're waiting....Your response?




I didn't think so. Asshole.

[sinkingfeeling]

14. But I guess you can never be too young and immature to raise a

child, huh Jeb?

[UCLA Dem]

16. Thats the point with these hypocrites; they only care about children

before they are born. Who cares how the child will be raised or if s/he has health insurance?

It just makes me so mad. They don't care about kids, they're just a pawn for political gain with the psycho fundies.

[demo dutch]

66. I so agree, what a hyprocrite to say "It's a tragedy that a 13-year-old

chi would be in a vulnerable position where she could be made pregnant and it's a tragedy that her baby will be lost"

That dept is so underfunded and mismanaged, it shows that he couldn't give a shit about the wellbeing of any of those kids in the system.
It's one of the worst run systems in the nation, he then appointed his buddy former DCF chief from Oklahoma to run it who had an even worse record than Florida.

[UCLA Dem]

15. Sounds more reasoned than those "polished" politicians.

[Charon]

70. Brother Said

What source do you have that Governor Bush made that statement?

[mountainvue]

17. I hope she is alright. n/t

[wakeme2008]

19. The Miami Paper was better and One could ask WTF

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/11556764.htm

''They've known about it for two weeks,'' she said.

Others questioned why DCF sought to block the abortion in the first place; for many years, state officials have turned a blind eye while foster children routinely terminated unwanted pregnancies, some juvenile court judges said.

''I have done this for 10 years,'' said Cindy Lederman, Miami's chief juvenile judge, who presides over foster care and adoption cases. ``If a child wishes to have an abortion, she gets an abortion.''

Said Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri Beth Cohen, who presided over child-welfare cases until a transfer two years ago: ``During my six years there, this never became an issue.''

Often, foster children who became pregnant would end their pregnancies without ever appearing before a judge, said Nancy Barshter, a former assistant attorney general who founded, then managed the state's child welfare legal services offices in Fort Lauderdale and Tampa.

Makes you go Mmmmm...

[msanthrope]

32. Oh, now I get it---I bett hat Jebbie et. al. thought

they had a good case to salve the hopes and dreams of their "base"....it just didn't work out the way they planned.

Now, I wonder, will they go after the rapist?

[demo dutch]

63. Doubt it, it will just highlight the mismanagement of his dept.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Please explain to me

how she could be considered not old enough to decide if she could have an abortion BUT old enough to carry a baby to full term and become a parent?

[FourStarDemocrat]

59. Not only that, it's physically dangerous for a 13 yr-old girl to undergo

a full 9 month pregnancy and birth. I guess they weren't worried very much about HER life.

[proud2BlibKansan]

60. We all know that the only life these idiots are interested in

is the life that happens BEFORE birth.

[Vickers]

21. I wonder if this poor girl is a minority...

...they didn't fight very hard for this fetus. :eyes:

[Megahurtz]

25. On the contrary

she's probably white, as "blonde haired blue eyed children are highly adoptable" as what was once actually stated to me by a Social Services worker!
They were seeing $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ if she carried out the pregnancy!!! Greedy pigs!:argh:

Anyway good for the girl! She sure did an excellent court performance! :woohoo:
She argued the law. There was nothing that they could say!

[Megahurtz]

26. Duh! ooops.......

I didn't notice your rolling eyes.

Uh...ooops.......:hide:

[texanwitch]

34. If she would have carried the pregnancy to term the state would have

stated that at 13 she was to young to care for the child and would terminated her rights and put the child up for adoption.

You are right they were seeing $$$$$$$$$$.

[Missouri Leadership]

24. Greene County Missouri Division of Family Services Create Conflict.

Greene County MO Division of Family Services Surreptitiously Invite Prosecutor and Defendant to same Meeting: Conflict of Interest Questioned.

May 2, 2005

During a recent Family Services Team Meeting conducted by the Greene County Division of Family Services a serious conflict of interest was recorded. Sitting at the same table as the father in this open disclosure meeting was a Greene County Prosecutor.

Jill Patterson, the prosecutor, recently leveled charges of child abuse against the Father for an incident that allegedly occurred in December of 2001. The Father has plead Not Guilty in the case which is currently working it's way through the Greene County Missouri Criminal Courts.

"I didn’t know (Father) would be here," Patterson said, while voicing her concern about the appropriateness of the meeting. "I'm Stupid."

It turns out that the Prosecutor may not be so stupid after all. She may have been deliberately led to believe the Father would not be present.

Read More

[dxdem]

27. What is UP with florida? n/t

[Horse with no Name]

33. Small question

I thought if a minor got pregnant, it automatically emancipated them?
Which would mean that she could leave DCF custody and become a legal adult?

[Freddie Stubbs]

35. There needs to be an investigation

This kid has been in state custody for several years. And she got pregnant. Someone has not been doing their job...

[demo dutch]

64. Yes it was Jeb's dept who didn't do it's job.

[onehandle]

38. Another life Jeb™ could have saved.

Time for the good Christians in Florida to start their own party.

[HockeyMom]

40. Somebody come forward and adopt this 13 year old

That would be the best outcome of this. But all they want are newborns - cute little babies. It's very much like the animal shelters. They all want kittens and puppies, but nobody wants older cats and dogs. Sad for both the human and animal species.

[NorthernSpy]

48. maybe she wouldn't want to be adopted

I got the impression that this kid had rather had it with random adults staging interventions into her life.

[itcfish1]

41. Is this 13 year

Old a white girl???

[rebecca_herman]

42. no clue

I have no idea what race she is.

[slackmaster]

45. Why do you care?

I don't.

[deadparrot]

49. I think it's more directed at the suggestion that

if it *were* a black girl/woman, this whole thing might not be an issue.

[demo dutch]

67. I'm pretty convinced that the girl was African-American, and it would

be one of the reasons why Jeb threw in the towel.

[Solly Mack]

44. Good

[BlueEyedSon]

46. Hope they saved some cells to ID the rapist.

[hyphenate]

50. Good

That poor girl might get another chance at a clean slate. I hope that the attention to this will raise people's awareness of how horrible the RRR is about getting into the business of others. Perhaps those who support our civil rights will see this for what it is: an invasion of privacy on a national scale.

My best wishes go to that girl.

[demo dutch]

61. That's exactly the reason Jeb didn't even try to fight it. It would

highlight all the unsavory facts and show how his DCF dept is a total failure!