Teen takes parents to court over abortion fight

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A disagreement between a local teenager and her parents could turn into a legal fight with national repercussions. The question: Can parents force their minor daughter to have an abortion?

Lawyers with The Center for Defense of Life filed a lawsuit on behalf of the 16-year-old expectant mom. The girl claims her parents want her to abort the baby she's fighting to keep.

It was right here in Harris County district court where lawyers for the teen filed a lawsuit against her parents. The teen is two months pregnant and asking a judge to stop her mom and dad from forcing her into having an abortion.

The teen claims her parents are trying to force her into an abortion by using verbal and physical threats and by harassment.

In the lawsuit, the teen claims her mom "...invited the paternal grandparents to a bar for further discussion, where she suggested that she might slip [the teen] an abortion pill through deception."

We asked KTRK legal analyst Joel Androphy to weigh in on this case.

"Her parents cannot force her to have an abortion," Androphy said. "If the parents force an abortion on a minor, the parents can not only be subject to civil responsibility, but they can also be criminally liable under our fetal homicide laws, because not only does the minor have a right to be protected, but the fetus does, even under Texas law."

On a different occasion, the pregnant teen claims her dad told her "he was going to take her to have an abortion and that the decision was his, end of story."

The girl claims her parents already removed her phone, kept her from school and took her car as punishment for failing to get an abortion.

We spoke to the teen's father who claims the allegations are false. He says he believes someone is putting his daughter up to this lawsuit and had no further comment about the case.

We want you to join the conversation. Go to our Facebook page and tell us, who do you think should have the final say in what happens to the pregnancy -- the teen or her parents?
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