Johnny_Blaze_47
06-17-2005, 09:58 AM
http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/stories/06/17lawsuit.html
Lawsuit: School nurse forced girl to take pregnancy test
Teen's dad says her privacy, constitutional rights were violated.
By Steven Kreytak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, June 17, 2005
A 15-year-old girl and her father have filed a federal lawsuit claiming that a San Marcos High School nurse forced the girl to take a pregnancy test.
Nurse Dyanna Eastwood called the girl to her office Jan. 11 and told her that a student at another school had claimed he impregnated her, according to the lawsuit, which claims the girl's privacy and constitutional rights were violated.
The girl denied that she was pregnant and said she never had sex with the boy, but Eastwood insisted that the girl take the test, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Austin. The girl's lawyer said she was not pregnant.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, claims Eastwood violated the girl's Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure.
"Search and seizure — alrighty then," Eastwood said Thursday when reached at her New Braunfels home.
"I remember the incident," Eastwood said. "Is that how it went down? No, of course not."
She declined to comment further, saying she wanted to seek legal advice.
The lawsuit also names the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District as a defendant. The district's general counsel, Juan Cruz, declined to comment, saying officials have not been served with the lawsuit.
The girl and her father are not being identified by the Austin American-Statesman because of her age and the sensitive nature of the dispute.
"This whole thing is intrinsically wrong," said John Hindera, the family's Austin lawyer. "She's a 15-year-old girl that's suddenly being confronted with having sex and being pregnant."
Hindera said that Eastwood did not threaten any consequences if the girl declined to take the test, but that the girl felt she had no choice because the nurse is an authority figure.
When the girl's father asked Principal Chad Kelly about the pregnancy test, the father was handed a piece of paper indicating that "the nurse performed the pregnancy test pursuant to the school district's interpretation of section 32.003 of the Texas Family Code," the lawsuit states.
Part of that section states that a child may consent to medical treatment by a licensed physician if the child "is unmarried and pregnant and consents to hospital, medical or surgical treatment, other than abortion, related to the pregnancy."
Hindera said even if the girl agreed to take the test, that consent isn't valid under Texas law because of her age.
It is unclear whether it is a practice in the San Marcos school district for nurses to keep pregnancy tests for student use. A district spokeswoman declined to say because of the pending lawsuit.
The Austin and Round Rock school districts do not keep or administer pregnancy tests and only deal with issues of student pregnancies if the student requests help, spokeswomen at those districts said.
"We don't get involved in those private matters," Nicole Kaufman said of Austin's practice. "Students being pregnant doesn't affect any form of educational service that we provide them."
Anna Schissel, a lawyer for the reproductive rights project at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said forcing tests on anyone presents medical ethics questions as well as potential constitutional violations.
"You can't force medical care on an unwilling patient," said Schissel, who represented a group of teenage girls who sued New York City schools in 2003.
The girls had been accused of cutting classes to attend a party where they had sex and were barred from classes until they showed officials the results of pregnancy tests. The case settled out of court.
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I was under the impression that school nurses weren't licensed physicians, so the crap about following the code is wrong.
Lawsuit: School nurse forced girl to take pregnancy test
Teen's dad says her privacy, constitutional rights were violated.
By Steven Kreytak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, June 17, 2005
A 15-year-old girl and her father have filed a federal lawsuit claiming that a San Marcos High School nurse forced the girl to take a pregnancy test.
Nurse Dyanna Eastwood called the girl to her office Jan. 11 and told her that a student at another school had claimed he impregnated her, according to the lawsuit, which claims the girl's privacy and constitutional rights were violated.
The girl denied that she was pregnant and said she never had sex with the boy, but Eastwood insisted that the girl take the test, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Austin. The girl's lawyer said she was not pregnant.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, claims Eastwood violated the girl's Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure.
"Search and seizure — alrighty then," Eastwood said Thursday when reached at her New Braunfels home.
"I remember the incident," Eastwood said. "Is that how it went down? No, of course not."
She declined to comment further, saying she wanted to seek legal advice.
The lawsuit also names the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District as a defendant. The district's general counsel, Juan Cruz, declined to comment, saying officials have not been served with the lawsuit.
The girl and her father are not being identified by the Austin American-Statesman because of her age and the sensitive nature of the dispute.
"This whole thing is intrinsically wrong," said John Hindera, the family's Austin lawyer. "She's a 15-year-old girl that's suddenly being confronted with having sex and being pregnant."
Hindera said that Eastwood did not threaten any consequences if the girl declined to take the test, but that the girl felt she had no choice because the nurse is an authority figure.
When the girl's father asked Principal Chad Kelly about the pregnancy test, the father was handed a piece of paper indicating that "the nurse performed the pregnancy test pursuant to the school district's interpretation of section 32.003 of the Texas Family Code," the lawsuit states.
Part of that section states that a child may consent to medical treatment by a licensed physician if the child "is unmarried and pregnant and consents to hospital, medical or surgical treatment, other than abortion, related to the pregnancy."
Hindera said even if the girl agreed to take the test, that consent isn't valid under Texas law because of her age.
It is unclear whether it is a practice in the San Marcos school district for nurses to keep pregnancy tests for student use. A district spokeswoman declined to say because of the pending lawsuit.
The Austin and Round Rock school districts do not keep or administer pregnancy tests and only deal with issues of student pregnancies if the student requests help, spokeswomen at those districts said.
"We don't get involved in those private matters," Nicole Kaufman said of Austin's practice. "Students being pregnant doesn't affect any form of educational service that we provide them."
Anna Schissel, a lawyer for the reproductive rights project at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said forcing tests on anyone presents medical ethics questions as well as potential constitutional violations.
"You can't force medical care on an unwilling patient," said Schissel, who represented a group of teenage girls who sued New York City schools in 2003.
The girls had been accused of cutting classes to attend a party where they had sex and were barred from classes until they showed officials the results of pregnancy tests. The case settled out of court.
-----
I was under the impression that school nurses weren't licensed physicians, so the crap about following the code is wrong.