Pro-lifers in the American state of Texas have intervened on behalf of a 16-year-old girl whose parents were trying to force her to have an abortion.

Neither the 16-year-old girl, who is 14 weeks into her pregnancy, nor the child’s father wanted the baby to be aborted.

But the girl’s parents felt differently and on two separate occasions her mother forcefully took her to local abortion facilities in an attempt to end the pregnancy.

Horrified

Lawyers from the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) stepped in to protect the teenage girl and her unborn child.

And as a result of the intervention the girl’s parents have now signed a court order agreeing that they won’t force their daughter to have an abortion.

The girl, who has not been named, became even more determined to protect her unborn child after she received information from a pro-life advocate praying outside of one of the abortion facilities she was taken to.

Innocent

Stephen Casey, a lawyer with the ADF, said: “No one should be allowed to decide that an innocent life – especially one that belongs to someone else – is worthless”.

ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman said: “The right not to have an abortion is protected by law, and this right isn’t relinquished just because someone else considers the child to be an unwanted burden”.

He added: “This situation illustrates what a difference it can make when a woman is more fully informed about the true nature of abortion.”

Abortion

Last November the director of an abortion clinic in Texas quit her job after watching ultrasound footage of an abortion – and joined a pro-life group which protests outside the facility.

Abby Johnson spent eight years working at the Planned Parenthood centre in Bryan, Texas, two of them as director.

Miss Johnson said her growing disillusionment with the pro-abortion movement reached “breaking point” when she watched an ultrasound of an abortion taking place.

Prayer

She began supporting Coalition For Life, an anti-abortion group based just yards away from her former workplace.

Coalition For Life volunteers regularly hold prayer vigils outside the Planned Parenthood offices.

The group’s director, Shawn Carney, said: “It’s truly been a testament to the power of prayer and the courage of Abby to leave a job she felt she could no longer do in good conscience.

“It has been a joy for all of our volunteers who have prayed outside of the clinic for the conversion of the clinic workers to witness that conversion actually happens.”