A court ruling that forced the state to transport a pregnant female prisoner to an abortion clnic last year has been made to apply to all women in Missouri prisons. Federal Judge Dean Whipple has ruled that the US Supreme Court order that Missouri provide the transportation and guards to the inmate, known only as Jane Roe, applies to any pregnant inmate who wants an abortion. Whipple made the original ruling that the state must provide transportation and guards so that Roe could be taken from the Vandalia prison to a St. Louis abortion clinic. The state estimated the cost for transportation and guard salaries at $350. Roe had been sentenced to four years in prison after being arrested for probation violation in California. She had an abortion October 20th, three days after the US Supreme Court upheld Whipple’s ruling. The American Civil Liberties Union asked the court to make the ruling a class action on behalf of all pregnant women imprisoned in Missouri. The ACLU states that at least one female inmate was denied transportation to an abortion clinic since the Roe case. Governor Blunt has urged the Attorney General to appeal the decision, stating, “This ruling violates our traditional Missouri values and is an affront to everyone that values the sanctity of human life.”
