US Border Officer Asked Australian Woman If She Had Gotten An Abortion Recently. Why Was That Needed?

The overturning of Roe Vs. Wade shook almost every woman and feminist to the core recently. A judgement this regressive coming from a country like the US was jarring. And now, the effects of this can be clearly seen. A US border agent stopped an Australian woman passing through the country and questioned her about whether or not she had recently had an abortion.

An Australian woman named Madolline Gourley was on her way from Australia to Canada, where she intended to house and cat sit in exchange for free lodging. Gourley writes about her cat-sitting experiences on a travel blog. The 30-year-old claimed that when she stopped in Los Angeles on June 30, border officers began to wonder why she was heading to Canada.

Gourley was twice questioned, patted down, and photographed before being asked if she was expecting a child. She was once more questioned about her pregnancy by an agent as she transferred from one jail area to the next. She was questioned if she was pregnant after responding that she wasn’t.

Gourley told that she was unsure if the agent had forgotten or if she wanted to figure out if Gourley was lying. The agent asked Gourley again if she is pregnant to which she responded in the negative. The agent then asked her if she had an abortion recently. Gourley was unsure about what was going through the agent’s mind. She questioned the agent about what that had to do with her situation. 

The US Customs and Border Protection took “allegations of unprofessional behaviour seriously,” a spokeswoman said in an interview with The Guardian that the CBP has standard procedures for handling claims of misbehaviour. If an employee is found misbehaving, decisive decisions are made to tackle the situation.

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The Esta (electronic system for travel authorization), which allows travellers to board flights to the US but does not ensure entrance upon arrival, must be obtained before travelling to the US under the programme. Gourley claimed that when she checked in in Australia, no boarding cards for her connecting flights to Philadelphia and Montreal had been printed. According to her, it was requested that she provide bank statements, which she did. In order to establish that she wasn’t getting paid, she also displayed to officials the website she used for home sitting. Additionally, Gourley informed them that she planned to return to the US after spending a month in Canada, well within the allowed 90 days. Additionally, she had a ticket back to Australia.

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Gourley used the visa waiver programme to go from the US to Canada. The programme enables citizens of a number of nations, including Australia, to visit the United States without a visa for 90 days or less for business or vacation.

Because Gourley had broken the program’s rules, she was sent back to Australia. According to a US Customs and Border Protection official, participants in the visa waiver programme are not allowed to get a  job or receive payment for services provided. The programme states that house-sitting in exchange for free lodging is prohibited.

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