Update on Ms. Burkholder & Yamhill Co.

On Tuesday, I posted about Bridget Burkholder, the incarcerated woman who needs an abortion and was denied transportation due to her pre-trial status by the Sheriff, general inaction by the judge at the time, and the complication of a 14 yr. old county ordinance. They--Judge Collins and Sheriff Crabtree--also weren't convinced she was mentally competent enough to decide to choose to have an abortion.

Late yesterday she was committed to a mental health facility:

On Wednesday, Collins issued a magistrate’s hold ordering the county’s civil commitment investigator, Todd Sprague, to evaluate Burkholder’s mental status. He issued a report, which Collins relied on to order her to a mental health facility. She will leave Thursday morning.

The decision regarding the abortion will be left up to doctors at the new facility.

In order to obtain a medical procedure--one even the prosecutor acknowledged she has a right to have--her best bet, thanks to the officials past and present in Yamhill Co., is being committed. And that's certainly not a guarantee.