Court Allows Paraplegic Mother Visitation Rights

By: Zannie Carlson

March 26, 2011 marked a legal victory for mother, Abbie Dorn, when the Los Angeles County Court temporarily granted Dorn injunctive relief holding that she had children’s visitation rights. Severe complications during the labor of triplets led to Dorn’s permanent disability. As a paraplegic, Dorn’s primary mode of communication is through a series of blinks, which, following divorce, the father of the children deemed psychologically harmful to the triplets. The father chose to raise the children on his own, barring Dorn from visiting. Consequently, Dorn has only seen her children three times since their birth in 2006; it wasn’t until last year that the father even told his now-four year old daughters that they had a mother.

The court tentatively found that although Dorn’s interaction with her children is significantly impaired, the children still have the ability to interact with their mother. The court found that such interaction would in fact be beneficial to their psychological growth. This decision is still early in the case’s development, as a full trial is set for later this year. Nevertheless, Dorn and her parents, who filed suit on behalf of their daughter, are celebrating this temporary holding as a sign of the success to come. The fact that the case may end at the county level may limit its effect but the case, nonetheless, marks a notable achievement in disability rights.

--Zannie Carlson

   TMA Staff Writer

Do You Have A Receipt For That Rape?

By: Shailee Diwanji

Fancy filing away that receipt for your hush-hush abortion along with your latest business entertainment expenses? The No Taxpayer Funding For Abortion Act might just make it so you have to. This bill, introduced by representatives Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) and Chris Smith (R-N.J.), has significant support from the GOP (and some Democrats) and is expected to sail through the House of Representatives. Slightly modified from its original version, which only recognized "forcible" rape, the bill now focuses on federal funding for abortions with some flagrantly ill-devised consequences. The bill mandates that federal funds not be used to fund an abortion, unless it was the result of rape or incest, or seriously endangers the life of the mother.

Amidst Financial Crisis, Politicians Try to Redirect our Attention to the Usual Scapegoats

By: Zannie Carlson

The March 21 edition of The Nation features an article on Washington’s lackluster efforts in improving the lives of unemployed or soon-to-be laid off Americans: Finding that individuals with college degrees comprise less than half of the unemployment rate, the article observes that “while the overall economy continues to suffer through the worst labor market since the Great Depression, the elite centers of power have recovered.”