Judge Rules Woman May Have Abortion

A Pennsylvania judge Monday ruled against a man who is trying to stop his pregnant former girlfriend from aborting their child, saying a woman’s right to an abortion was not subject to veto by a husband or partner.

Luzerne County Common Pleas Judge Michael Conahan dissolved a July 29 special injunction that had prevented Tanya Meyers, 23, of Kingston, Pa., from getting an abortion after John Stachokus sued to force her to have the baby. She is about 10 weeks’ pregnant.

In a case local legal experts said they had not seen the likes of in more than a decade, Conahan also dismissed Stachokus’ lawsuit, saying the 27-year-old man from Plains Township, Pa., had no legal standing to interfere with Meyers’ decision.

Conahan’s ruling entrenched a woman’s right to an abortion as one of the privacy protections guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“This right is not subject to being vetoed by a woman’s husband or partner,” the judge wrote.

An attorney for Stachokus asked Conahan to maintain the injunction until an appeal could be filed in state Superior Court.

But lawyers who represented Meyers on behalf of the Philadelphia-based Women’s Law Project and the New York-based Center for Reproduction Laws and Policy said new restrictions on their client were unlikely.

“The injunction, thankfully, has been dissolved and federal law has returned to Pennsylvania,” said Linda Rosenthal, a lawyer who had represented Meyers.

Stachokus sued under the state Abortion Control Act, saying Meyers was coerced to choose an abortion by her mother. Conahan’s ruling cited case law, dating to 1973, saying it was clear Stachokus had no authority or right to relief.