On November 19, 1998, an inmate in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility filed a lawsuit alleging violations of her civil rights in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Scranton Division. The Plaintiff, represented by a group of public interest attorneys, ...
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On November 19, 1998, an inmate in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility filed a lawsuit alleging violations of her civil rights in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Scranton Division. The Plaintiff, represented by a group of public interest attorneys, sought equitable relief, claiming that the defendant's refusal to provide an abortion violated her constitutional right to privacy.
On November 20, 1998 the Court entered a decree enjoining the Defendant from preventing the Plaintiff from obtaining an abortion. Furthermore, the court ordered that the Defendant arrange for transportation to a medical center to obtain an abortion the next day at the Plaintiff's expense. The court based its decree on the authority of Monmouth County Correctional Institutional Inmates v. Lanzano, in which the 3rd Circuit held that a denial of abortion services constituted a violation of the 8th Amendment.
The court additionally held that in the future, any request for an elective abortion shall be honored as a necessary medical procedure and provided at the County's expense if the applicant demonstrates an inability to pay.
Justin Benson - 04/08/2011
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