Tuesday, 17 August 2010

• A rarely-discussed injustice.

  Entry by Katie:
  
  The U.S. has a sordid history of conflating what a woman should do if she wants to maintain a healthy pregnancy and what a woman should be forced to do for the sake of her fetus. Case in point:
  
  In 1984, a Nigerian woman was bound to her hospital bed with leather restraints and, despite her struggling, forced into the OR to have a C-section performed.
  
  In 1987, a cancer-stricken Angela Carder was forced to undergo a C-section despite a very high risk of death. Despite protests from herself and her family, the procedure was done and neither Carder nor her baby survived.
  
  In 1993, a woman’s refusal to undergo a medically-recommended C-section culminated in a court battle. Remarkably, the court appointed a lawyer to represent the fetus, who portrayed his “client” as “"a real life being kept prisoner in its mother's womb.” Ultimately, the court ruled in the woman’s favor and she gave birth vaginally without incident.
  
  In 2004, Amber Marlowe’s hospital obtained a court order to perform a C-section against her will. Marlowe checked out against her doctor’s advice and gave birth vaginally to a healthy baby in another hospital.
  
  In the same year, Melissa Ann Rowland was charged with murder for refusing to consent to a C-section in a timely fashion. Despite eventually consenting to the procedure, one of her twins was stillborn. The charges were dropped due to Rowland’s mental health history.
  
  In 2009, a mother’s parental rights were terminated because she was “combative” and “uncooperative” during her labor and refused to consent to a C-section. Despite delivering a healthy baby vaginally, her baby was immediately taken and she was charged with child abuse and neglect.
  
  In the same year, Joy Szabo was informed that her hospital’s policy required her to have a C-section based only on the fact that she’d already had one in the past. To avoid the surgery, Szabo moved 350 miles away to temporarily live nearby a hospital that would allow her to give birth vaginally.
  
  Should you consent to a C-section if your doctor recommends one or deems it medically necessary? Probably. But in the end, the decision to go under the knife is yours alone. You should never be physically restrained and wheeled into the OR. You should never be forced to risk your life to save your fetus, You should never be compelled by court order to undergo surgery, and a hospital administrator should never be granted custody of your fetus. You should never be arrested for having a stillbirth.
  
  Women’s reproductive rights are not limited to abortion. If you consider yourself “pro-life,” think about this next time you consider supporting a campaign or backing an initiative that would establish “fetal rights.” There is simply no way to grant any right to a fetus without first taking it away from the woman carrying it.
  

  • 10:31 AM
  • 298 Views
  • 40 eProps
  • 19 Comments