INTRUSIVE

Airline Apologizes for Making Woman Take Pregnancy Test Before Flight

Midori Nishida had to take a pregnancy test before boarding her flight to an island in a U.S. territory.

Hong Kong Express Airways apologized Thursday after making a woman take a pregnancy test prior to her November flight to a U.S. territory, according to NBC News. Midori Nishida, 25, said the airline required her to take a pregnancy test as part of a “fit-to-fly” assessment before boarding her flight from Hong Kong to the island of Saipan. Despite stating that she was not with child on her check-in questionnaire, she said she had to undergo the “unheard of” practice. The airline apologized “unreservedly” and said it was responding to concerns from Saipan officials. Saipan is part of the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands and has become a hot spot for birth tourism due to the eligibility of children born there for U.S. citizenship. “We took actions on flights to Saipan from February 2019 to help ensure U.S. immigration laws were not being undermined,” the airline said. “We have immediately suspended the practice while we review it.”