Fight for the right to live!

A pregnant Texas teenager is suing her parents to stop them from forcing her to abort her unborn child.

Click2Houston reports a judge issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the abortion while the case is ongoing.

The 16-year-old, who is identified only by the initials R.E.K. because she is a minor, claims in the lawsuit her parents are coercing her to abort her 9-week-old fetus through both verbal and physical threats and harassment.

"(The father) stated he was going to take her to have an abortion and that the decision was his, end of story," a copy of the lawsuit obtained by Click2Houston says.

Click here to read the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims R.E.K.'s parents kept her home from school, took her phone and car and that she, the father of her child and the child's paternal grandmother have been harassed by her father. It also claims R.E.K.'s mother suggested she was going to slip her daughter the abortion pill.

R.E.K is being represented by attorney for the Texas Center for Defense of Life.

"...She is legally protected. They cannot drag her to get an abortion, force an abortion on our client," attorney Stephen Casey told Click2Houston.

Under Roe v. Wade a woman has a right to decide whether she wants an abortion and under Bellotti v. Baird a teenager has the right to make her own decisions concerning her reproductive health.


 

I wonder if she lives at home? 

Unless that 16 year old was gonna move out and raise that child on her own, her parents most certainly DO have a say. They took the phone and car that THEY OWNED...she didn't own them.

I don't blame her parents for not wanting to raise another baby and for also realizing a 16 year old is not equipped to raise a baby. 

But forcing her to have an abortion is wrong. Roe v Wade protects choice. The choice to have and abortion as well as the choice not to.

Her parents are free to kick her out of the house, or whatever to absolve themselves of responsibility for the child, but they are no more free to decide what the girl does with her own body by forcing her to have an abortion than they or anyone is to force a woman not to have an abortion. The it's her body -- it's her choice standard still holds or else you undermine the whole Roe v Wade decision. 

I wouldn't force my child to have an abortion, but I wouldn't be throwing a baby shower either.

They make an adult choice to have a baby...they do it on their own, like an adult. 

I wouldn't force my child to have an abortion, but I wouldn't be throwing a baby shower either.


You say that now, but until you walk in those shoes you really dont know how you would react. 

This is absolutely disgusting. Her parents have no say so in it, period. You cannot force someone to have an abortion, and the simple fact that they are THREATENING this girl,and the child's fathers family is horrendous.

I applaud her for filing a suit against her parents. I hope she gets emancipated. No one should be threatened to get an abortion. It's a choice, and the choice is not her parents. 

No...I do know and my kids know EXACTLY how I feel. I will not take on the responsibility of a teen getting knocked up and deciding to have a baby.

You want to have sex as a teen, that's your choice. By doing so, you accept full responsibility of any and all consequences. I don't mince words...my kids know this. 

Also, she is living with the child's fathers family NOT her family because her mother is a drunk, and her father is physically abusive. 

How do you know this? You know the family?

And yes...if she wants to have a baby and lives on her own, more power to her. 

Also, she is living with the child's fathers family

So she is a moocher and unable to provide for herself.

NICE 

How do you know this? You know the family?


I'm reading the lawsuit papers.


So she is a moocher and unable to provide for herself.

Herp. So, you'd live with someone who beats you? Nice to know. 

Do you have the link for the lawsuit papers? I wanted to read them, but can't find the link on KPRC's website. 

Herp. So, you'd live with someone who beats you? Nice to know.

No, I would move out, get a job and support myself.

Gee, I think that's exactly what I did. 

Are her parents legally responsible to provide medical care for her because she is a minor, regardless of where she is living? 

Also, she is living with the child's fathers family

So she is a moocher and unable to provide for herself.

NICE 

So did you read that somewhere? or are you just ASSuming it? Maybe the fathers family offered to help the kids out a little. 

suit



No, I would move out, get a job and support myself.



There's more to the story I'm sure. But I wouldn't live with my parents if I had a mother that was a drunk, and an abusive father. Even if it were 'mooching', I would live with my BF's family so I wouldn't be in that situation. 

Herp. So, you'd live with someone who beats you? Nice to know.

No, I would move out, get a job and support myself.

Gee, I think that's exactly what I did. 

So should we pay you on the back and say Good Job? 

Why don't they consider adoption?

There's onviously family problems but I couldn't make my kid abort her baby. I'd be PISSED alright. But that would be my grand child and I would love it.

This girl will be fine. Every pro-life org out there will now help her and come to her defense. 

It appears the BF's family is being very supportive of her. His father went to court and has joined the lawsuit on her behalf. Her parents didn't even show up for the hearing. The judge ordered a CPS investigation of her parents, according to the KTRK story.

Thanks for the link, Fluffy. 

So the girls mother is also living with the BF's family? 

They make an adult choice to have a baby...they do it on their own, like an adult.

Somehow I suspect that if she chose to have an abortion, you would gladly assist her with that choice. 

No, I think her permanent address is listed as her mother's address, but it says she's been living with the BF's family for 7 months. 

But her mother and father have different addresses 

I think they're divorced/separated. There's a statement in the lawsuit that her mom told the paternal grandmother that they should start making the girl pay rent either to her mother or to the paternal grandparents depending on where she was living. 

I wouldn't make a choice either way. She got pregnant, it's her decision. My kids know I won't be raising grandchildren.

I know many people who are and it's ridiculous, imo. I even know someone who had multiple children have babies in high school and guess who takes care of everyone??

No thank you. 

" For some time R.E.K has resided at the home of her baby's paternal grandparents because her mother routinely does not supervise her, frequently spending her evenings at a local bar, and R.E.K avoided her father's presence because of his tendency towards physical violence, which she has observed on multiple occasions."

Ugh reading this is making me sick. Taking away the phone I don't give a crap about, but this crap...

"On 1/27/13, R.E.K. went home upon demand of the Defendant Denise Koen. Initially, R.E.K. was reluctant to go, having been informed of the abortion pill threat. Defendant Denise Koen then took away R.E.K.'s phone in retaliation for her not wanting to have an abortion. In further contact with her baby's father's family that night, R.E.K. informed them that her parents' goal was to make her miserable so that she would give in to the coercion and have the abortion.

On 1/28/13, R.E.K. did not attend school. She had been kept home in an attempt to get her to have an abortion. Denise Koen demanded she "take the easy way out.". She was not physically ill, but was kept from school as a method of psychological coercion to have an abortion." 

Oh great, so every adult involved let the 16 year old live in the same home with the boyfriend? What did they think was going to happen?

Sounds like to me the girl should be put somewhere safe away from all these idiots. 

She's been living with the boyfriend's family for 7 months and is 9 weeks pregnant?

Awesome. :(

She's only 16 years old, comes from a completely dysfunctional home and is wanting to bring a baby into this mess?

Sounds brilliant. :( 

Why don't they consider adoption?

Exactly. I don't know all of the details but it sounds like this baby is going to be born into a family with a lot of drama and dysfunction.

With the right counseling this young woman could see the best option would involve giving her child to a loving family that could provide nurturing and opportunities that few teen parents are equipped to be able to.

It sounds like a lot is being lost in this story, primarily the welfare of the unborn child. With this kind of drama all around it I wonder what chance it has for a healthy childhood. 

Lots of selfish and irrational people in this sad little story. 

Oh great, so every adult involved let the 16 year old live in the same home with the boyfriend? What did they think was going to happen?


From the sound of all this, her being at the BF's home, while under normal circumstances is purely idiotic, might have been her only refuge from the insanity at home.

When it's all said and done, she's just a kid in a dysfunctional mess and I'm sure she was looking for love and security with the BF. Yes, it's stupid, but she's a kid and probably confused and messed up emotionally.

I hope there is ONE person she can rely on to be a solid stable influence in her life. every kid needs that and won't do well without it. 

Well odds are, that boyfriend isn't going to stick around forever, and then what happens to the children (mom and child)? 

No, her parents are divorced -- there's conservatorship wording further down in the lawsuit.

The girl's permanent residence is listed as her mother's residence, but that is not where she has been staying for the past 7 months. She's been living with the boyfriend's family. If you read further down in the lawsuit, it talks about her mother forcing her to go home at one point, etc. 

They use R.E.K. , but you can plainly read her name as Reagan. Makes no sense. 

Adoption.

Have none of these people heard of this? 

Do they still have homes for unwed mother's? Maybe taking her away from everyone for awhile would be a good idea. She could be with other young women, get medical care, and continue with her education, and if I'm not mistaken, she will be taught a trade. 

Adoption would allow her to go on with her life and if she wants to be free of her parents then she can do that. She can get an education and get to the point of being able to support a child eventually.

But right now, she is dependent on the bf's parents. After the novelty of all this court attention and the reality of the responsibility of a baby wears off she will be looking for support for herself and her child.

The adults have all played their part in this happening, along with the teens themselves. but who int heir right mind would not have predicted that she might get pregnant if she moved in with the boyfriend's family? I guess no one thought of getting her on birth control.

This whole thing sounds like one big power struggle between all of the parties. I don't think she should be forced to get an abortion but I do think she should place her child with an adoption agency.

While, I don't think anyone should be forced to have an abortion, I don't think the teen mother is a hero either. She obviously has no means to support the baby and is not mature enough to know that unprotected sex is how babies happen. She will probably have another one after this one is born. 

Yes they do still have homes for unwed mothers. 

Maybe she wants to seek adoption? No one knows except for them. She's not being given the choice to seek anything because of her parents. You cannot put your child up for adoption if someone is trying to force you to have an abortion.