Department of Corrections to Comply With Abortion Order

A female inmate at the State Prison in Vandalia will get her wish and get an abortion. A federal judge has ordered the state to take the prisoner to an abortion clinic by this Friday. The Corrections Department had argued it would be a security risk and would violate state law by spending tax dollars on helping a woman get an abortion. Corrections Spokesman John Fougere says his Department will have to comply. Fougere cannot say exactly when she’ll be taken to the abortion clinic because his agency doesn’t make public the transporting of prisoners, and because she has a right to medical privacy. He adds that the inmate will have to pay for the actual abortion itself, but the state will bear the cost of transportation and the guards who will accompany her.