Almost 17, a girl has a lot of dreams. Being forced to give birth isn’t one of them
To protect her privacy, her name in court records is Jane Doe 22-B. But what’s supposed to shelter this 16-year-old pregnant girl, in reality, silences and dehumanizes Jane, a victim of Florida’s partisan abortion wars. Her case has garnered headlines recently, yet she has no public voice, no say about any of what’s happening to her outside of conversations with those in charge of her life. And she has no power, it seems, to sway the justice system either. People are judging her, making decisions for her, yet she cannot tell us her own, full story. She’s only Jane Doe 22-B, the first case we hear about in the aftermath of a bitter legislative session where the rights of many Floridians, women among them, were curtailed. But she’s most likely not the first nor the only one in her predicament. Her guardian, the state of Florida, will only release some facts: She’s parentless, has been through trauma, lives with a relative — and is 10 weeks pregnant. Although the adult relative supports J...