The parents of a 15-year-old Virginia girl who was allegedly convinced to have an abortion against her wishes have filed a $15.4 million lawsuit seeking damages.
The girl’s parents assert that a Dickenson County Department of Social Services worker talked their daughter into having the abortion performed at Bristol Women’s Health, LLC. They say they did not give consent for their minor daughter to have the abortion.
A 15-year-old Virginia girl, three month's pregnant, was allegedly talked into having an abortion, and now her parents have filed a $15.4 million civil lawsuit, seeking damages. https://t.co/5YRvmKDppH pic.twitter.com/Sqp9muYMTR
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) February 19, 2023
The suing parents also allege that their daughter insisted that she wanted to go through with the birth of her child, according to civil court documents. The teenager was reportedly taken to Bristol Women’s Health and pressured out of her decision to keep her child.
The parents accuse the director of the abortion clinic and the Dickenson County Department of Social Services (DSS) employee of persuading their minor daughter to get the abortion.
The lawsuit, which seeks $15.4 million, named the director, the doctor, the DSS staffer, and the DSS director as defendants. It reportedly seeks compensatory and punitive damages from Bristol Women’s Health and the DSS.
The suit said the teenager was three months pregnant when the director and social services worker allegedly convinced her to abort her baby. The girl was taken to the abortion clinic on or around Jan. 19.
Under Virginia law, any woman under the age of 18 must have a parent, grandparent, or adult sibling with whom they live to give explicit permission to have an abortion.
Additionally, one parent, grandparent, or adult sibling who is lived with must know of the decision to abort within 24 hours of the procedure. Only a judge may dismiss these requirements.
In too many instances, governments now seek to come between concerned parents and their children. In this case, the parents allege that both the social worker and abortion clinic stepped in to perform their role without their knowledge or consent.
Having their 15-year-old minor daughter undergo surgery without their consent or even knowledge is inexcusable. To have that surgery result in the loss of life is a further atrocity that the parents are absolutely within their rights to seek legal recourse for.
