A probate judge's order to abort a mentally ill woman's unborn baby and sterilize her — if it meant she had to be "coaxed, bribed, or even enticed ... by ruse" into the procedure — has prompted a legal tongue-lashing from an appeals court, and outrage from even abortion rights supporters.
"No party requested this measure ... and the judge appears to have simply produced the requirement out of thin air," state Appellate Court Associate Justice Andrew R. Grainger wrote, reversing newly retired Norfolk Probate and Family Court Judge Christina Harms' Jan. 6 ruling in the case, handing the abortion decision to another judge.
