ACLU Targets Arpaio Over Abortion
POSTED: 8:54 pm MST July 10,
2009
UPDATED: 10:48 am MST July 13,
2009
PHOENIX -- Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is facing another legal battle.The ACLU filed a motion in Maricopa Superior Court last week to stop the sheriff from requiring inmates who ask for abortions to pay up front for transportation costs to the procedure.“He can't ask people to pre-pay to receive these medical services,” ACLU Executive Director Alessandra Solar Meetze said.The ACLU’s action stems from a December 2008 incident.According to court documents, an inmate known as “Sarah Poe” requested an abortion.A “Lieutenant informed her she would have to prepay for transportation costs," the documents said.Poe was charged $500 before obtaining a ride to a doctor’s office where an abortion was performed.Meetze said the prepayment requirement violates a woman’s constitutional right to have timely access to an abortion.“The sheriff has an obligation to follow the law. He cannot pick and choose which laws to follow based on his political agenda,” she said.The sheriff, who is pro-life, said his prepayment requirement has nothing to do with his personal feelings."To say I do this for political reason or person, that's not true,” Arpaio said.The sheriff said women who cannot pay the transportation charge up front will still be driven to the procedure.“Our policy that we have been disseminating is that the person will be transported to the abortion clinic,” he said.However, the sheriff does not charge any other inmates for transportation.Sheriff’s deputies drive inmates to other medical appointments, hospital visits with ailing family members and to funerals for free.The sheriff said his office does charge inmates for any “elective surgery.”He could not give CBS 5 any examples of any other elective procedures that have occurred during the past two years.The motion to stop the sheriff from requiring payment for transportation for inmates seeking abortions is the latest chapter in a five year long court battle.The ACLU first filed suit against the sheriff in 2004 for requiring women to get a court order for an abortion.The courts found the sheriff’s policy was unconstitutional.
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