“Have You Recently Had An Abortion?” Australian Woman Deported At US Border

Not Done

Australian Madolline Gourley was deported during a stopover in the US on her way to Canada to house and cat-sit. She claims she was treated like a criminal and asked highly personal questions: “Are you pregnant?” and “Have you recently had an abortion?” Following all this she was deported.

Madolline Gourley was detained, fingerprinted, photographed and interrogated during her transit stop at Los Angeles on her way to Canada on 30th June. She was repeatedly asked if she was pregnant, on insisting that she was not, she was then asked “Have you recently had an abortion”. After this ordeal, Gourley was told she would be deported.

Fine Print

Gourley was deported on the grounds that she had breached conditions of the American Visa Waiver which applies even to stopovers. A US Customs and Border protection seconded the deportation order citing some fine print. When questioned about the inappropriate questions, the spokesperson said such unprofessional behaviour is taken seriously. However it appears nothing will be done.

Can you think of a reason US Border control would question the health and medical history of a woman?