HOLLIDAYSBURG - The Blair County Adult Drug Court lent $275 to a participant so she could have an abortion, creating a firestorm of controversy.
District Attorney Richard Consiglio said he was so upset when he learned of the decision that he met with President Judge Jolene G. Kopriva, who oversees Adult Drug Court.
He said if Drug Court ever again funds an abortion, he will refuse to recommend individuals for participation, "effectively shutting down Drug Court."
Commissioner Terry Tomassetti said Monday afternoon that the commissioners want to review Drug Court funding and establish criteria for its use.
He clarified that no state or federal funds were used for the abortion.
Judge Tim Sullivan requested a meeting of the county's five judges when he learned about the abortion, and they decided there would be no more court-funded abortions.
"It greatly upset me. I feel very strongly the court had no basis funding in any way an abortion. ... It was way too personal a decision for the court to become involved," Sullivan said.
He said he and fellow judges Elizabeth Doyle, Daniel J. Milliron and Hiram A. Carpenter were not informed about the decision to fund the abortion. He said he only learned of it when the issue was brought to light late last week by area pro-life advocates.
The request came before Kopriva in Adult Drug Court and involved a participant who had at least one child prior to her entry into the court.
The woman's counselor came before the drug court assessment team, which reviews the cases and makes recommendations.
The counselor argued that the woman had gone through a traumatic experience being disowned by her parents when she had her first child.
The woman, who has been under Drug Court treatment for a year and a half, didn't want to go through the same trauma again because it could interfere with her recovery from drug addiction, according to the counselor.
Kopriva said the issue evoked strong moral differences among her drug court team members.
When it came to the abortion request, Kopriva said she turned to the state's abortion law, which allows a minor wanting an abortion without her parents' consent to petition the court for permission if her decision is "knowing and intelligent."
Using that standard, Kopriva said she and her team were able to view the issue and agree the woman was making a knowing and intelligent decision.
The team then agreed to the loan, Kopriva said, which came from a Drug Court fund created from a $5-a-week assessment from participants.
The money typically is used to help people stabilize their lives. For example, the court paid $75 for lead testing one participant with a child needed before she could obtain a particular apartment.
An anonymous donor repaid the money used for the abortion to Drug Court.
Kopriva said the drug court values families and has provided medical care to 30 pregnant women whose babies eventually were born drug-free.
''This was a unique and very different issue presented to us. ... It is a very divisive issue,'' she said.
She said she hopes it won't be so divisive that it damages what she considers a successful Drug Court program that has seen 144 graduates since it began about five years ago.
