Judge Orders Abortion For Prison Inmate

Omaha, Nebraska (April 12, 2021) — A federal judge has 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 as scheduled on Tuesday.

Prison officials had rejected the woman’s request, prompting her to file a civil rights lawsuit on Friday 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 the abortion.

The woman, identified in the lawsuit as Jane Roe, is a little more than 15 weeks pregnant and has been in prison since Feb. 18. She’s serving a 26-month sentence at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women.