Missouri Prison Officials Transport Inmate for Abortion.

Under court order, Missouri prison guards took a female inmate from a prison in Vandalia to a St. Louis abortion clinic October 20 where she aborted her 16- to 17-week-old unborn baby, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The unidentified inmate returned to the prison later that same day. Although she paid for the abortion herself with money borrowed from friends and family, the state paid for fuel costs and for two guards to accompany her, the Associated Press reported.

Pro-lifers strongly protested the court orders that required the state to spend taxpayer dollars to abet an abortion. "Missourians have spoken loudly, that they do not want to have a hand in abortion in any way, shape or form," said Pam Manning, Missouri Right to Life director at large. "And they are being forced to have a hand in it."

The woman has been in the Missouri prison since August 22 for parole violations after she traveled to California despite the probation she received after a conviction for possession of methamphetamine, according to the Post-Dispatch. She discovered she was pregnant while in jail in California.

Missouri established new regulations July 19 that prohibit taxpayer money to be used to transport prisoners to get an abortion, according to the Washington Post. State legislators had criticized the Department of Corrections for taking inmates for abortions in several previous cases. The legislators cited a 1986 Missouri law establishing that no state money, public employees in the course of their employment, or public facilities are to be ...