AFP: Women prison inmates should have access to abortion: US court Women prison inmates should have access to abortion: US court 6 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A US appeals court has ruled that women inmates in the midwestern state of Missouri must be given access to transportation when seeking to terminate a pregnancy off prison grounds.

The unanimous court decision Tuesday would compel corrections officials to restore an earlier policy of providing transportation for female inmates seeking abortions, as is the case at other correction facilities around the United States.

"Before September 5, 2005, the MCD (Missouri Department of Corrections) had a policy of providing transportation outcounts for inmates wanting to terminate their pregnancies, " according to the court brief in the case.

But after that date, the corrections facility altered its policy, allowing inmates to be transported for abortions only when "indicated due to threat to the mother's life or health."

Officials said the policy change was meant to protect prison staff, whose lives and safety were at risk when accompanying the women off prison premises.

The court, in its rejoinder, said allowing a pregnancy to continue was far riskier to guards, since inmates would have to be accompanied not just once, as in the case of abortion, but to several medical appointments over the course of a full-term pregnancy.

The court's ruling Tuesday coincided with the 35th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade case, legalizing abortion in the United States.

In the historic January 22, 1973 case, the Supreme Court ruled that most laws prohibiting abortions were unconstitutional violations of a woman's right to privacy. Hosted by Copyright © 2008 AFP. All rights reserved. More »