MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) - A judge on Friday blocked the parents of a 12-year-old girl who is six months pregnant by her own brother from taking her to Kansas for a late-term abortion.
Intervening at the request of prosecutors, Judge Pamela Gilbert O'Sullivan ordered the girl to undergo psychological tests before the court decides whether to allow the abortion. The judge ruled without explanation.
The state will conduct the psychological tests in the next two weeks, and another hearing will be held within 30 to 40 days, the judge said, barring the girl from leaving Michigan in the meantime.
The girl and her 17-year-old brother slept in the same room with their beds pushed together in the family's two-bedroom apartment in Sterling Heights, about 15 miles north of Detroit, said Cathy Larkins, an investigator with the state social services agency.
Michigan has banned abortions past the 24th week of pregnancy since 1974, unless the woman's life is in danger. The girl is entering her 28th week, and there is no evidence that she or the fetus are in jeopardy.
Prosecutors had asked O'Sullivan to at least temporarily block the abortion, saying that the girl had not been fully informed about the consequences of an abortion and that she isn't convinced she wants to have one.
"If the child goes through with the abortion the parents want and the child's not convinced about, there could be serious psychological consequences downstream," said Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga, a Democrat.
Marlinga said the girl would be leaving the state to have a controversial procedure opponents call "partial-birth abortion," in which the brain is suctioned out so that the fetus can be removed through the birth canal.
The law in Kansas is in dispute, but some insist it allows late-term abortions to protect a woman's mental health.
The prosecutor acknowledged that the delay until another hearing was lengthy but said the state's approach was "meant to slow down the process and allow a cooling-off period."
Ms. Larkins said the parents weren't initially aware their daughter was pregnant or having sex with her brother. A doctor failed four times to realize she was pregnant, despite symptoms such as vomiting and difficulty eating, the investigator said. Another doctor made the diagnosis on July 6.
The girl's 25-year-old cousin testified Friday that she tipped off authorities a day later after consulting with the girl's parents.
Sexual assault charges against the brother will be presented to prosecutors next week, police said. The parents won't face any charges, the prosecutor said. "They're victims as much as the child," he said.
The parents didn't testify at the hearing and refused comment as they left.
Prosecutors had asked O'Sullivan to take custody of the girl, but the judge said she will remain with her aunt and uncle and her parents will be allowed to visit.
AP-NY-07-17-98 1824EDT
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[posted July 18, 1998]
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