Pa. woman miscarries after judge granted permission for abortion

Knight Ridder Newspapers ^ | 8.7.02 | MARIE MCCULLOUGH

[victim soul]

KINGSTON, Pa. - (KRT) - Tanya Meyers miscarried just hours after a Pennsylvania judge gave her permission to proceed with an abortion that her former boyfriend tried to stop.

Meyers' mother, Tracey Curry, said Tuesday that her daughter began bleeding heavily Monday evening and was taken to a Wilkes Barre, Pa.-area hospital, where she was recovering Tuesday. An ultrasound confirmed that she had lost the 10-week pregnancy, Curry said.

"Tanya is a strong person, but this has taken a toll on her," Curry said by phone from her Kingston home. "It's taken a toll on her whole family."

[jwalsh07]

Meyers, in contrast, testified that Stachokus had been controlling and demeaning throughout their 10-month relationship. She said that on July 22, she confirmed the pregnancy and told him she wanted an abortion; she said he responded with anger and threats.

Do you see the word violent in there Mara?

[Catspaw]

I posted that article about her miscarriage at 6:06 a.m. I knew about her hemorraging a few minutes before that, when I went to the Wilkes-Barre paper & read it, then posted the story.

See, I don't like relying on a wire service for a story. They abbreviate and omit details--in this case, relevant details. Local newspapers will usually write longer, more detailed stories. I use http://www.ecola.com

[hellinahandcart]

I wouldn't know about the miscarriage part, as I have never been pregnant, but I went through one D&C in the gyno's office without anaesthesia, simply to avoid spending the night in the hospital (as I would have had to do if I had general anaesthesia); and yes, it was just excruciatingly, invasively delightful. ;D

Cue "I Enjoy Being A GIrl"...

[jwalsh07]

Wow. I thought it was THEIR baby.

If it was a baby, how could the Mother even consider killing it Ms Sarcasmic?

[marajade]

She used the word threats...

[jwalsh07]

She used the word threats...

Yes she did.

You used the word violent, she didn't.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

"Tanya is a strong person, but this has taken a toll on her," Curry said by phone from her Kingston home. "It's taken a toll on her whole family."

I wonder how much she was going to get paid for getting an abortion. Why else would it "take a toll"?

"Darn, I lost my baby before I could abort it"(?)

[ward_of_the_state]

This whole thing really frosts me for several reasons: I lost a full term baby and can't imagine anything more painful unless I lost one of my other three beautiful kids. There's a couple here in my hometown who lost their only child last week in a choking accident and probably won't be able to conceive any more. And there are so many people out there who want children and would be wonderful parents who can't have them.

I feel very strongly about this. Grrrr....

[marajade]

I would consider a threat violent...

[F16Fighter]

"Whether you or I like it or not women will continue to abort themselves if not allowed by law. In my opinion that will cause more harm..."

It's NOT "themselves" these women are "aborting"; It's another human life.

[eaglebeak]

She was naught but a petri dish for the fruit of his...loins.

[Catspaw]

Here's a story from one of the Wilkes-Barre papers.  But how odd--in this story, Stachokus says he first heard about the hemorraging in court, but on O'Reilly, he said he read about it in a Philly paper.

State court denies Stachokus appeal

By Denise Allabaugh , Citizens' Voice Staff Writer

08/07/2002

Protection from abuse hearing continued due to Meyers' hospitalization


Tanya Meyers of Kingston is hospitalized and did not attend a protection from abuse order hearing against her ex-boyfriend Tuesday morning.

Meyers, 22, who is 10 weeks' pregnant, was planning to have an abortion. The health of the unborn fetus that has garnered national attention is unclear.

Luzerne County President Judge Michael Conahan Monday dissolved a petition for an injunction, filed by the unborn baby's father, John Stachokus, Plains, which temporarily barred Meyers from having this abortion. In his ruling, Judge Conahan cited the fact that the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution encompasses a woman's right to choose to have an abortion.

Attorney John Williamson, who is representing Stachokus, said Tuesday he has already appealed this decision to Pennsylvania Superior Court, but according to WBRE Channel 28, The Citizens' Voice Northeast Pennsylvania News Alliance partner, the state Superior Court denied that appeal late on Tuesday afternoon.

Williamson told Channel 28, after the ruling, he plans to appeal the state Superior Court's decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and is requesting Judge Conahan grant an injunction forbidding Meyers from having the abortion until the state Supreme Court rules on the matter. Judge Conahan did not make a ruling on Williamson's request on Tuesday, Channel 28 reported.

As for Tuesday's PFA hearing, Attorney Astra Outley, who appeared on behalf of Meyers before Judge Gailey Keller, would not say where Meyers was hospitalized, only stating she was "hemorrhaging."

Stachokus, who was accompanied by Attorney Vincent Cappellini, said this was the first time he heard she was hospitalized.

"I hope she's all right. I hope the baby is OK," Stachokus commented Tuesday, while leaving the hearing at the Penn Place Building, 20 N. Penn Ave., Wilkes-Barre. "I hope she's not going through with the abortion."

Attorney Linda Rosenthal, Meyers' lead counsel and a staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, would not say if Meyers plans to have an abortion, only saying, "She is trying to get her life back on track."

Rosenthal also would not say why Meyers was hospitalized, noting that her private life has been publicized "without her having any control."

In the meantime, Judge Keller said a temporary PFA Meyers filed against Stachokus would remain in effect. The hearing was continued until Aug. 20 at 9 a.m. before Judge Keller.

Al Rende, founder of Fathers for Life, who also accompanied Stachokus on Tuesday, believes fathers should have rights, too. He explained that Stachokus is concerned about his ex-girlfriend and unborn child.
Rende feels his rights are being violated.

"The system is preventing him from knowing anything about her or the baby. We are advocating for change," Rende commented.

An injunction Stachokus filed against Meyers to try to stop her from aborting her child drew national attention.

Judge Conahan also cited the cases of Planned Parenthood vs. Casey of and Planned Parenthood vs. Danforth, which conclude that this right is not subject to being vetoed by a woman's husband or partner.

Additionally, the judge cited the case of Larrimore vs. Doe, which concluded that neither an ex-boyfriend nor a fetus has a standing to interfere with a woman's choice to terminate her pregnancy.

Rosenthal said she has seen this appeal and is "optimistic it will be fruitless, for the same reasons the injunction never should have been issued in the first place."

The U.S. Supreme Court decision of Roe vs. Wade granted women the right to have an abortion.

"There is a U.S. Supreme Court precedence that clearly grants a woman the unyielding right to make the decision about whether or not to terminate her pregnancy," Rosenthal commented. "I am hopeful and confident that the Pennsylvania Superior Court will follow every other court from the U.S. Supreme Court on. It is a woman's constitutional right to have an abortion."

Rosenthal stressed that this constitutional right could not be challenged by a "boyfriend, let alone an abusive ex-boyfriend."

"He has no right to know what's going on. The Supreme Court has said it's her right," Rosenthal emphasized. "When her abusive ex-boyfriend filed this injunction, he violated her right to privacy and attempted to control her body and her ability to make this decision."

Rosenthal added that the fact that Luzerne County Court issued an injunction "interfering with and prohibiting" Meyers' constitutional right to have an abortion is illegal.

When asked if she planned to pursue additional legal action, Rosenthal responded, "My client decided to let the dust settle and decide where to go from there."

Many pro-life activists and fathers' groups were hoping that the Luzerne County court case may set a precedent to change the current law, which grants women the right to have an abortion. They believe fathers should have a say.

Jeffery Leving, attorney and president emeritus of the Fatherhood Educational Institute in Chicago, Ill., released a statement Tuesday that he also is advocating for the rights of fathers like Stachokus who "may never be able to ensure life to his unborn child."

"He many never see his child grow up like so many other men. Men have no reproductive rights in America," Leving said. "Fathers are often portrayed as being irresponsible, but here is a dad who wants to be responsible and the legal system won't allow it."

Meyers has a 2-year-old son. Prior to being served with Stachokus' injunction, she had an abortion procedure scheduled for July 30.

She claimed that she wanted to abort the child as a result of verbal and emotional abuse, threats and harms she claimed her ex-boyfriend has put her through. Stachokus has denied her allegations.

She also testified that being prevented from getting her scheduled abortion has caused her extreme emotional distress.

Stachokus had said he was willing to take full or partial custody of the child.

In the PFA petition Meyers filed against Stachokus, Meyers charged Stachokus has harassed her by telephone and driving past her residence.

She charged that Stachokus "threatened bodily harm if he ever sees me in public" and caused "verbal and emotional abuse for the past year toward both me and my son."

"In the past, he has made comments to be about his hunting rifle and all the ammunition he has for them, but saying it in a way that I took as a threat," Meyers stated in her petition.


James Conmy, Citizens' Voice staff writer, contributed to this report.

 

©The Citizens Voice 2002

[marajade]

Okay... I agree... its another human life...

[eaglebeak]

I also believe each state should be allowed to determine their laws in relation to this issue...

Definitely. States' rights are going down the drain, fast.

[jwalsh07]

I would consider a threat violent...

Well you can consider a threat anything you please, its a free country. What you can't do is accuse somebody of violence based on your feelings of what might or might not be true.

In this country, had he been guilty of violence he would have been put in jail no questions asked on her word. Just the facts maam, just the facts.

[Catspaw]

If it was a baby, how could the Mother even consider killing it Ms Sarcasmic?

Unless you've heard of men being able to get pregnant and carry a baby to term, it's still the exclusive province of women (despite that truly bad movie of Joan Rivers, of course). Once you figure out how to get a man pregnant, let me know.

[another cricket]

Ok.

Propaganda can be found in the following.

In one instance of particular callousness, when a teenager tried to kill herself after her request was turned down, the committee decided to hospitalize her for the rest of her pregnancy. (She eventually got her abortion, after her multiple suicide attempts proved too disruptive for the staff.)

Trying to prevent her from killing herself was callous? What, they should have let her die, maybe? Hospitalizing her for treatment was callous? Why? She was not mentally stable and I truly doubt that the subsequent abortion helped matters any.

The Supreme Court has allowed states to erect barriers to abortion -- denial of public funds for poor women's abortions, parental consent and notification requirements, mandatory delays, "counseling sessions."

Gasp! How dare the SC say that the "States" can decide for themselves that they don't want to use public money for abortions. Asking that the parents be notified before their minor child has a procedure done on them that could result in the death of their child and will result in the death of their grandchild is unbelievable. (Incidentally if anything did go wrong the parents would have to be notified by the emergency room and would be libel for the bill.) Or the waiting period? Barbaric to make someone think it over. And counseling? Why she may actually decide to have the baby! The nerve!

She closes on an ominous note, sketching the possibility of a United States in which not only is abortion once again a crime but anti-abortion fanaticism brings on a Romania-style fetal-police state, complete with government-monitored pregnancies and police investigations of miscarriages.

Why, sure, this is just fact. No speculation here.

Consider yourself enlightened. But I doubt that this will change your mind and you cannot change mine. So shall we agree to disagree?

a.cricket

[marajade]

From the above article:

"She claimed that she wanted to abort the child as a result of verbal and emotional abuse, threats and harms she claimed her ex-boyfriend has put her through. Stachokus has denied her allegations."

If this statement doesn't meet the definition of "violent" I don't know what would... They just don't grant protection orders based upon a whim...

[Catspaw]

Under my state's law, it takes violence or a threat of violence to get a TRO and an injunction.

[marajade]

"Under my state's law, it takes violence or a threat of violence to get a TRO and an injunction."

Thanks... I've been in and around law enforcement for 20 years, in support staff positions, and knew that there has to be some there there in order for a judge to sign off on a protection order...