Jury rules in abortion lawsuit

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metro/2506899

April 15, 2004, 1:10AM

Jury rules in abortion lawsuit
Doctor found negligent, but plaintiffs awarded no money

By RON NISSIMOV
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

A jury Wednesday awarded no money to a woman and her father who sued an osteopath for performing an abortion while she was a minor without notifying the parent.

Ninety percent of the blame was assigned to the woman for using a fake identification indicating she was not a minor, the panel decided.

But the jury also found the doctor negligent, allowing both sides to claim victory in the first-of-its-kind lawsuit that could help determine how extensively physicians should verify the identification of women seeking abortions.

Cherise Mosley Hughes and her father, Frederick Mosley, 48, sued Dr. Douglas A. Karpen, alleging that he violated a 1999 Texas law requiring that minors' parents be notified at least 48 hours before an abortion. Hughes, who was seven weeks shy of her 18th birthday at the time of the August 2000 abortion, used an ID she obtained from a supermarket to convince Karpen and employees of his clinic that she was 18.

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She used a fake ID. She wasn't 13 or something and it was certainly reasonable to think she was not a minor. And why the hell was the patient suing? She's the one who chose to have the abortion. This is nonsense.

I think it is much better, if this oppressive law must exist, for the burden to be placed upon the patient, by signing an affidavit affirming their adult status. I'd like to see them prosecute a minor young woman for perjury. I think we need to turn this abortion issue around and launch an ideological counteroffensive on the issue. Women cannot be free if they cannot control their reproduction.

The jury attributed 90% of the responsiblity to the girl with the fake ID. That meant that the abortion clinic was not liable for any damages. That is still somewhat of a victory in that the clinic was not liable for anything despite bearing a very very small amount of negligence.