Aug. 29, 2005 – An Arizona court ruled last week against a county jail policy requiring incarcerated women to obtain a court order before they could have an abortion. The case was brought by an anonymous woman, referred to only as "Jane Doe" in court documents, whose abortion was delayed several weeks as she sought to comply with the prison’s policy.
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With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, Doe challenged an unwritten Maricopa County jail policy that women seeking abortions had to first obtain a court order before officials would transport them to the health center. While the defendants argued that the policy served a security purpose, the ACLU pointed out that inmates do not need to obtain court orders for other sorts of transport, including rides for other medical procedures.
The defendants also said they enacted the policy in order to comply with a county law prohibiting government funds to be spent on abortions. But Superior Court Judge Barry Schneider noted that Doe had offered to pay for the abortion herself and that "providing transportation is not paying for the performance of an abortion."
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Schneider also said that the unwritten policy constituted an "undue burden" on Doe’s right to an abortion and that jail officials failed to show that there was a legitimate government interest in delaying her request until she could obtain a court order.
