Gov. Jeb Bush ordered state lawyers last week to seek the appointment of a guardian for the 6-month-old unborn child of a mentally disabled woman who was raped.
The 22-year-old woman has no family, is too disabled to speak and cannot help police find who raped and impregnated her. Identification of her attacker has been hampered because she is unable to consent to a DNA test. She has lived at a small southwest Orlando 24-hour placement facility for 19 years.
“Given the facts of this case, it is entirely appropriate that an advocate be appointed to represent the unborn child's best interests in all decisions,” Bush said last Tuesday in a statement.
“While others may interpret this case in light of their own positions,” Bush said, “we see it as the singular tragedy it is, and remain focused on serving the best interests of this particular victim and her unborn child.”
The American Civil Liberties Union, along with the National Organization for Women and Center for Reproductive Rights, filed a brief Tuesday asking a court to deny the governor's request.
The brief claims such a judgment would go against precedent that an unborn child is not a person.
“He ought to be ashamed of himself,” said Howard Simon, executive director of ACLU of Florida. “That he would personally step in and take responsibility to coerce a developmentally disabled rape victim to carry a pregnancy to term.”
Bush's decision overrules child welfare officials who said such an appointment would be illegal.
A local Department of Children & Families attorney, citing a 1989 Florida Supreme Court decision that described a guardian for an unborn child as “clearly improper,” said the state only would seek to have a guardian appointed for the woman.
But DCF Secretary Jerry Regier said he agrees with the governor and has told the department’s Orlando office to seek two guardians. He said he had always been under the belief that a guardian would also be appointed for the baby until reading news accounts of the local office's decision.
“My first thought was we need to work on our communication because this is certainly an issue that is somewhat unique,” Regier said. “The governor's position and my position has been made clear.”
Florida's statewide pro-life group praised the governor's intervention.
“The unborn child is as deserving of protection as this mother is deserving of protection,” said Lynda Bell, spokeswoman for Florida Right to Life. “This unborn child certainly has personhood.”
Two conservative groups came out in support of the Governor's actions.
Concerned Women for America (CWA) and the Family Research Council (FRC) both announced their support, even as a circuit court judge defied Gov. Bush by postponing his decision on whether to name a guardian for the unborn child.
CWA president Sandy Rios said, “It was a terrible thing for this woman to be raped by a person who was assigned to care for her. We certainly consider any sexual assault a terrible crime, but the sadness is only compounded if we also subject this poor girl to a procedure that we know to be harmful to women.” She said that to abort the child would only make a tragic situation worse.
FRC President and former head of Florida Right to Life Ken Connor also applauded Gov. Bush for “recognizing the inability of both the woman and the unborn child to speak for themselves.” Connor also praised FRC founding president Jerry Regier, secretary of Florida's Department of Children & Families, who is working with Gov. Bush to secure a separate guardian for the baby.
For related coverage on the Judge's delay, click here.
(This article compiled from Life Site and Pro-Life Infonet news articles. For more information on Lifesite, go to their website. For more information or to subscribe to ProLife Infonet, go to www.prolifeinfo.org.)
